2010 International Campus of Excellence Programme
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
Building knowledge
To build citizens
To build cities
Report on the project
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
Building knowledge
To build citizens
To build cities
Report on the project
Candiday for the 2010
International Campus of Excellence
A much more detailed and complete version of this document can be found at:
www.upf.edu/icaria
ConTenTs
RectoR’s message
7
1. oveRall pRoposal
9
1.1 Perspective and mission
1.2 Theoretical framework
1.3 Campus model and SWOT
1.4 Summary of associates and goals
2. pRoject RepoRt
17
A) Teaching improvement and the EHEA
Actions
17
B) Scientific improvement and knowledge transfer
Actions
57
C) Transformation of the campus into a comprehensive, social model and its integration
within its land setting
Actions
93
D) Specialist fields
111
E) Associates
117
F) Internationalisation
135
G) Participation in a sustainable economic model
141
H) Alliances and networks
147
Annexes:
List of actions
List of tables and diagrams
3. economic RepoRt
3.1 Summarised budget
3.2 Detailed budget
3.3 Chart of actions
157
ReCToR’s message
Communis omnium sapientia
The Icària International Campus of Excellence project presented by Pompeu Fabra University is
based, first and foremost, on the experience the university has gained in the twenty years since it was
founded. During this short period, UPF has yielded a successful combination of quality and prestige
in teaching whilst upholding an unrelenting commitment to become a leading research institution.
The results lay testimony to the fact that the university has embarked on precisely the right course.
Teaching and research indicators place it among the top universities in Spain and, in recent years,
UPF has begun to make a name for itself on the international stage, for instance, figuring prominently in the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities and the Times Higher Education
ranking. The university model is primarily based on a policy of being an international institution
that is open to the world, incorporating prominent researchers and lecturers in order to strengthen
the international range of postgraduate programmes, master’s degrees and doctoral studies offered.
Furthermore, the university is centred on three main fields: biomedicine, social sciences and humanities and communication and information technologies. Accordingly, this project focuses on specific
areas rather than adopting a general approach. The output attained in these three fields demonstrates
that by pooling and focussing efforts in this manner UPF has unquestionably adopted the appropriate strategy. Moreover, a host of interdisciplinary areas have been established among these three fields,
giving rise to some of the most innovative scientific initiatives the world has witnessed in recent
years; for instance, the field of neurosciences and human behaviour is one initiative that constitutes a
fusion of all three fields and is one of the main actions envisaged in the project.
The 2010 project strengthens the university’s associates. These include the Open University of
Catalonia (UOC), an institution with which UPF has already been collaborating successfully – experiences in this regard include the first edition of certain specialist areas in the master’s degree for
training secondary education teaching staff. Moreover, this cooperation also provides a bimodal
teaching format (involving face-to-face education and virtual learning) which is set to become an
ever-increasing feature in higher education. In addition, the project also unfolds on the context of an
ambitious interuniversity cooperation scheme; namely, the 4 Universities Alliance (A4U) – formed by
UPF along with the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Madrid and
the Carlos III University in Madrid. The aim is to forge an outstanding spiral of academic excellence
in Spain. The project also benefits from the involvement of a host of research centres, technological
centres and postgraduate platforms that are linked to UPF. These include the newly-established Barcelona Institute for International Studies (IBEI) and Barcelona Beta centre, promoted by the Pasqual
Maragall Foundation.
The project’s ultimate calling is to create knowledge based on the understanding that knowledge will
help to lend our society greater wellbeing and equality. Pompeu Fabra University has always helped to
generate knowledge in keeping with the pace of Barcelona’s development. The university is intimately
tied in with the city fabric: it was a key player in lending a new lease of life to the Ciutat Vella district
and in opening up the city to the sea in the nineties in preparation for the Olympic Games. Even now
in the 21st century, the institution continues to contribute, for example on the overhaul being carried
out in the 22@ knowledge district. Icària International is a project with a highly urban vocation, unfolding right in the heart of the Catalan capital: Mediterranean, Hispanic and international Barcelona,
a city that has opened its doors to the world. The project is founded on the firm conviction that, in
addition to being a popular location for leisure and business, Pompeu Fabra University can transform
Barcelona into an extremely appealing world destination for research and postgraduate education.
Josep Joan Moreso
Rector of Pompeu Fabra University
1
oVeRaLL PRoPosaL
1.1 perspective and mission
The UPF25 YEARS Strategy looking ahead to 2015 was drawn up and approved in the year between
the two calls for the Campus of International Excellence programme. This is important because
the Icària International project is nurtured by this theoretical framework and, accordingly, both the
project and the strategy share the same vision looking ahead to 2015.
UPF shall become one of the leading European universities developing a unique identity of its own
characterised by quality teaching, proximity to students, a high level of internationalisation and
emphasis on research and innovation. The university’s three specialist fields – social sciences and humanities, communication and information technologies and biomedicine – place the individual and
the relationship between the university and its setting at the heart of the university project.
UPF25 year perspective
The goal of the Icària International project is to speed up this process for attaining excellence and
international outreach to which the university has been committed since it was founded. Indeed, it
forms the basis of the UPF25 YEARS Strategy and this goal is strengthened thanks to the strategic
associates highlighted in this project.
1.2 Theoretical framework
The UPF25 YEARS Strategy lays the theoretical foundations for the Icària International project.
The strategy focuses on four areas of action – which are efficiently governed and managed – which
coincide with the priority areas for action set out in the CEI 2010 programme.
The five strategic goals of the UPF25 YEARS Strategy are detailed below under each specific area
along with the framework for governance:
Knowledge creation: research
Establishing UPF as a research institution with a calling for international excellence enabling it to
attract talent and strengthen its current standing by improving research infrastructure.
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
9
Knowledge transmission: teaching
Consolidating the current teaching model in line with the European education framework with an
innovative teaching and learning model that underlines the quality and competitiveness of the studies offered by UPF, focusing particularly on setting up suitable support systems.
Knowledge transfer
Planning and developing teaching and research to favour knowledge transfer and innovation in society in conjunction with the main social and business players within the university’s setting.
internationalisation
Designing a global strategy to enable the university to achieve the international presence, standing and prominence characteristic of an institution with such high quality in terms of research and
teaching.
Framework of governance and efficient management (internal action)
Strengthening an institutional structure that helps to reach the goals set out in the UPF25 YEARS
Strategy, reviewing internal governance and the structure of the UPF group. The instruments for
management shall also be adapted, promoting greater cohesion in the university model. The goal is
also to define a more varied, sustainable funding model.
1.3 campus model and sWot
1.3.1 introduction
The Icària International project sets out 22 actions aimed at reinforcing the goals included in the
UPF25 YEARS Strategy. These include fostering the involvement of the university’s associates in
the projects (strategic partners in each field: teaching, research and knowledge transfer) and placing
greater emphasis on the integration of the campus into its setting (by working with the urban development associate: 22@Barcelona).
With respect to the associates, their involvement in the project is vital to heightening this process for ensuring excellence. For instance, in terms of teaching they make it possible to incorporate
new bimodal teaching models (ensured by the association with UOC) and to enhance the range
of postgraduate studies offered (through postgraduate platforms). In terms of research, making a
more efficient use of the synergies afforded by the associates is essential in order to build competitive
resources that nurture the university model.
Moreover, the project places great emphasis on integrating the campus into its land setting (22@
Barcelona project) to help consolidate Barcelona’s position as the capital for knowledge and innovation.
1.3.2 campus model
The campus model established by the Icària International project stems from UPF’s conviction that
working to achieve a new sustainable economic model helps to increase social wellbeing, an objective
that can be reached on the basis of two key missions.
UPF CAMPUS
10
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
Firstly, by integrating knowledge – illustrating the university’s role as an agent for knowledge creation, transmission and transfer – enabling the institution to act as a driving force for social transformation. Secondly, by fully integrating the UPF campus into its land setting – the expansion of
which has lent and continues to lend a new lease of life to rundown areas in the city, leading to UPF
becoming a motor for transformation in the city.
Likewise, the project also focuses on three cross-disciplinary areas depicting the relations in which
the university engages with local agents, along with the institution’s system of internal governance.
As stated, in order to execute the Icària International project the university benefits from the support
of a host of strategic associates which lends added value to the project. These are detailed below.
Also, in recent years the university has been shaping a policy of alliances in which clear geographical
priorities are outlined in order to firmly establish the institution’s position on the international stage,
strengthening ties with a network of key partners that make it possible to execute robust, sustainable
projects. Lastly, it is worth mentioning that the university is required to report to the society which
promotes it and to which the institution is indebted for its success. To do so, in the case of actions
such as the Icària International project, it sets out a framework for efficient management and governance, defined in the UPF25 YEARS Strategy.
The following diagram sums up the campus model forged by the Icària International project.
Diagram I. Campus model
FUNDAMENTAL AREAS
GREATER ExCELLENCE
Internationalisation
and talent attraction
Integration into
the setting
Teaching
Strategic
associates
Research
CROSSdISCIPLINARy AREAS
Knowledge
integration
Governance and
efficient management
Knowledge creation,
transmission and transfer
Comprehensive
campus
driving force for
transformation
in society
driving force for
transformation
in the city
INCREASING SOCIAL WELLBEING
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
11
1.3.3 sWot UpF campUs - icària international project
strengths
opportunities
S1
Specialisation in three fields of knowledge
O1
Fostering specialisation in three areas of
knowledge as a distinguished feature
S2
High quality levels across all three fields of
knowledge. Integration between fields
O2
Encouraging synergies between the three
fields of knowledge
S3
Research on the frontier of knowledge
having international outreach
O3
Making the most of the activities conducted by the research and knowledge transfer
associates
S4
Developed research capacity and competitiveness in certain fields on a European level
O4
Achieving greater presence in Europe
through joint research projects with the 4
Universities Alliance
S5
Appealing quality range of studies offered
O5
Heightening the use of ICTs in teaching
through a bimodal teaching model (with
UOC)
S6
Leading university in adapting the studies
offered to the EHEA
O6
Customised monitoring of students in line
with the EHEA
S7
High degree of satisfaction among students
O7
Encouraging student participation in the
university’s activities
S8
High rate of employment integration of
graduates
O8
Ensuring the studies offered are suited to
market needs
S9
International reputation and standing
O9
Promoting the presence of UPF in international networks and alliances, as well as in
leading rankings
S10
Capacity to attract and recruit talent
O10
English as a lingua franca in teaching and
research
S11
Teaching staff with international educations
and origins
O11
Mobility in the teaching /research career
S12
High presence or international students at
bachelor’s level and especially at postgraduate level
O12
Specialisation in postgraduate studies
having international outreach
S13
High levels of mobility among bachelor’s
students
O13
New international mobility agreements in
geographical priority areas
S14
Campus fully integrated into Barcelona city
O14
Heightening relations with international
institutions and companies based in Barcelona, the city of knowledge
S15
Modern, quality university infrastructure
O15
UPF campus growth strategy: new infrastructure expansion plans
Weaknesses
Threats
W1
Size and young age: limiting presence in rankings (that do not take size into consideration)
T1
Economic downturn and the drop in
public spending
W2
Early stages of knowledge transfer
T2
Funding distribution criteria based on
volume and not achievements
W3
Low student participation
T3
Competition to attract talent
W4
Early stages of assistance for graduates
T4
Increased competition to secure research
funding
W5
Underuse of funding lines
(except for research)
T5
Increased competition in securing private funds
and engaging in dealings with companies
W6
Few European projects (Erasmus Mundus)
W7
Few institutional relations on an international level (technical and academic relations
instead of political ones)
1.4 summary of associates and goals
1.4.1 introduction
The Icària International project is supported by strategic partners operating on six levels: university
associates, teaching associates, research associates, urban development associates, institutional
associates and business associates.
Firstly, ever since it was founded in 1990, UPF has built on participation in a broad host of institutions enabling it to establish itself in the fields of teaching, research and knowledge transfer. For this
reason, the university already defined its governance model with these institutions beforehand and
this cooperation is established through several mechanisms: framework agreements and/or pacts;
presence on the boards of trustees of the institutions and, in the case of the A4U alliance (bringing
together four universities) by establishing an association (forged at the end of 2008).
Likewise, the university has been actively involved in urban development projects to lend a new lease
of life to the city – working with the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council – and on
this occasion this cooperation is again illustrated by the involvement of 22@Barcelona – the foremost urban, economic and social transformation project Barcelona has embarked on in recent years
– as an urban development associate with the Icària International project.
Diagram II shows the various associates involved in the project:
Diagram II. Associates
S
CH
uCiii
uOC
ideC
mar
health
park prbb
a4u
upf
biarch
uab
bCn
Gse
imim
iet
ibei
TES
CIA
uam
SO
AS
UNIV
ERS
ITy
AR
AS
SO
CI
AT
SE
RE
E
HING ASSOCIATES
TE A C
Crei
CrG
Cmrb
ibe
Cre
med
CreaL
iat
CrC
beta
CIATES
SSO
Other
areas
Law firms
TA
EN
CsiC
AS
GOvernment
Of CataLOnia
SO
CI
AT
E
PM
LO
E
V
dE
finanCiaL
institutiOns
biOmediCine
COmpanies
SS
barCeLOna City
COunCiL
B US
I NE
iCt
businesses
22@
Social sciences and humanities
Communication
and information
technologies
S
N
FieLds
UR
BA
Biomedicine
General
ITUTIONAL ASSOCIATES
INST
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
13
Below are some of the foremost alliances along with some of the joint cooperation projects promoted
on the context of the Icària International project.
1.4.2 main alliances and cooperation projects
University associates
open University of catalonia (Uoc)
As leading institutions in their fields, UOC and UPF have already engaged in cooperation within the
framework of an educational agreement. For instance, as of the 2009-2010 academic year, both universities offered the university master’s degree in Teaching of Compulsory Secondary Education and
Baccalaureate, Professional Training and the Teaching of Languages. This cooperation also includes
the scientific field with the presence of UOC research groups operating at Barcelona Media technological centre and the presence of UPF teaching staff on the Scientific Committee for Research and
Doctoral Studies of UOC.
For this project, both universities have forged projects in the field of teaching (benefitting from
UOC’s online education experience to develop joint programmes in UPF’s three knowledge fields)
and with regard to research (where cooperation focuses on information and communication technologies as well as possible cooperation in social sciences).
Specifically, this cooperation is illustrated in two joint projects:
• Bimodal teaching cooperation projects on interuniversity undergraduate and postgraduate programmes (UPF-UOC)
• Set-up of a UPF-UOC interuniversity centre for research on moral and political theory
4 Universities alliance (a4U)
The 4 Universities Alliance (A4U) was borne out of the desire on the part of the four universities
(the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Madrid, the Carlos III
University in Madrid and Pompeu Fabra University) to conduct joint projects initially in the fields
of research, exchange of doctors and international outreach.
A framework agreement from 2008 regulates this calling, and specific agreements are signed for each
individual project. This calling for teamwork led to the alliance being established in December 2008
as an association and subsequently in May 2009 it was recorded in the national registry of associations.
At present, the A4U organises its activity for six independent working groups managed by a vicerector at each university: academic career; research; international relations; bachelor’s degrees/postgraduate programmes; students; and university extension.
While the last three group areas, established in December 2009, are still being determined, through
the Icària International project, UPF is presenting three actions that foster the working lines of the
first three groups:
• European A4U Office in Brussels (OPERA)
• Mobility programme for young PhD holders as part of the A4U
• A4U International project
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ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
teaching and research associates
scientific Research council (csic)
CSIC and UPF have signed an agreement to set up the Evolutionary Biology Institute (IBE), a
mixed institution jointly owned by both whose goal is to promote quality, multidisciplinary research
aimed at solving scientific problems in the field of evolutionary biology.
The IBE – which is fully operational – plans to transfer its premises to the UPF Social Sciences and
Humanities Park once established. Similarly, the development of the park – one of the key actions
set out in the Icària International project – is backed by financial support from the CSIC to promote
the construction of the building that will house the IBE.
Accordingly, the involvement of the CSIC in the project relates to the following initiative:
• UPF - Social Sciences and Humanities Research Park
Research and transfer centres and postgraduate platforms
Ever since it was founded, UPF has built its participation in several institutions and centres specialising in teaching, research and knowledge transfer. The university is a member of the boards of trustees
of these institutions who are once again involved in the Icària International project by undertaking
an explicit commitment to cooperation.
This host of institutions enables UPF to be a prominent player in highly specialised research fields,
often in conjunction with other universities and institutions, providing its research staff with excellent facilities and an ideal environment to conduct their activities.
In the field of teaching, the postgraduate platforms – two internationally renowned centres of
outstanding quality – supplement the studies offered with a wide range of specialist master’s degrees.
Likewise, the location of the IBEI at the UPF Social Sciences and Humanities Park – where it will
share infrastructure and resources with Barcelona GSE – will undoubtedly help to establish UPF as
the leading postgraduate platform with international outreach in Barcelona.
In addition, as well as cooperating with UOC, the Icària International project includes several actions aimed at improving teaching quality and learning in line with the standards of the European
Higher Education Area (EHEA). In accordance with these guidelines, these actions focus on monitoring students more closely during their education process (and also boosting relations between the
university and its graduates) and training teaching staff in the use of new teaching methods. Furthermore, an initiative is also implemented to increase the number of international academic cooperation projects promoted by the university by strengthening the institution’s networks and alliances.
Attention should be drawn to the following actions:
• UPF - Social Sciences and Humanities Research Park
• Plan for promoting postgraduate schools in the UPF group
• Tutorial plan of action
• UPF Alumni programme
• Learning and teaching support programme
• UPF Global Network Initiative project
UPF CAMPUS
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15
institutional, urban development and business associates
Barcelona city council and the 22@Barcelona project
Icària International benefits from the support of 22@Barcelona as an urban development associate.
Indeed, this urban, economic and social renewal project in Barcelona – promoted by the City Council – is yet another example of the university’s close ties with institutional bodies (the Government
of Catalonia and, in particular, Barcelona City Council) when it comes to executing urban development and overhaul projects in the city.
22@ the foremost urban, economic and social transformation project Barcelona has embarked on in
recent years. In line with a sustainable economic model, it sets out a new urban model (for an area
of nigh on 200 hectares). In this new environment – known as the innovation district – production
forums (more than 1500 companies) coexist with universities and research, continuing education
and technology transfer centres.
The creation of this hub for business, research and knowledge transfer activity will boost synergies
among the agents at the heart of the change in economic model. All in all, this collaborative effort
will help meet the challenges posed by the knowledge society and establish Barcelona’s image as a
leading international platform for innovation and the knowledge economy.
UPF CAMPUS
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ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
2
PRoJeCT RePoRT
a
teacHing impRovement
anD aDaptation to tHe eHea
i. starting point
0. introduction
Education at UpF is centred on three fundamental fields of knowledge (social sciences and humanities, communication and information technologies and biomedicine) and the range of courses and
programmes are comprehensively offered on the basis of a twofold aim:
structural integration, by jointly arranging the offer in the following manner:
• strengthening interrelations and synergies among the three fields
• establishing cross-border centres of knowledge between the fields
integration of the teaching model through:
• innovation
• research
• proximity to students
• a high degree of internationalisation
This twofold integration has a positive effect on the quality of the teaching model implemented by
UpF as demonstrated by the following:
• the institution’s ability to draw the best upper secondary education students (during the
2009-2010 academic year, more than three hundred students were admitted having received the
top grade honours)
• the excellent achievements of students, with the highest rate of graduation in the Catalan university system (60% compared with 32%)
• the increased speed with which graduates adapt to the social fabric
These are all aspects that are directly related to the creation of citizenship, one of the university’s goals.
Knowledge transmission (teaching): to strengthen the current teaching model in line with the
European educational framework by applying a quality, innovative teaching and learning model to
ensure the competitiveness and robustness of the courses offered, lending particular emphasis to the
establishment of support systems that are better tailored to suit each context.
Goal 2. UPF25 YEARS Strategy
UPF CAMPUS
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17
1. characteristics of the UpF teaching model
• Full commitment to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) which has led to the implementation of all the bachelor’s degrees in the 2009-2010 academic year, one year ahead of the
deadline set by current legislation.
• Studies with a major emphasis on internationalisation, a factor certified by several external assessments. UPF has the highest level of mobility of all Spanish State universities and is the third
largest institution in terms of the number of foreign students it receives.
• International dimension to all master’s degree and doctorate programmes in which international
students account for 34% and 46% respectively. All doctorate programmes can be followed
entirely in English as can 32% of master’s degree programmes. A further 32% employ English
alongside the use of Spanish and Catalan.
• Syllabi adapted to the needs of society giving rise to a high level of employment integration on
the part of UPF graduates. Education plans include internships in companies and institutions.
• Customised student support that improves day-by-day thanks to the implementation of more
developed tutorial models.
• Syllabi offered in conjunction with other institutions within the UPF group making it possible
to heighten the specialized nature of the courses offered.
• Major emphasis placed on the quality of teaching clearly demonstrated by the networking of
USQUID (Support to Quality and Teaching Innovation) units within each centre which are
institutionally organised by the Centre for Teaching Quality and Innovation (CQUID). This
structure addresses all education, innovation support activities and other initiatives that ensure
the quality of teaching.
• A constant mission for improvement and modernisation that is demonstrated by the range of
courses offered to suit a more dynamic and competitive setting. The implementation of crossdisciplinary bachelor’s and postgraduate degrees is being examined in order to provide comprehensive interdisciplinary education characteristic of universities that constitute international
benchmarks.
2. organisation of teaching
2.1 structure
The courses offered at UPF are structurally organised by 7 faculties, 1 polytechnic school, 8 departments, 4 affiliated centres, 4 postgraduate platforms and 3 university research institutes.
Faculties
• Health and Life Sciences
• Economic and Business Sciences
• Political and Social Sciences
• Communication
• Law
• Humanities
• Translation and Interpretation
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ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
schools
• Polytechnic School
Departments
• Experimental and Health Sciences
• Political and Social Sciences
• Law
• Economics and Business
• Humanities
• Communication
• Information and Communications Technologies
• Translation and Language Sciences
affiliated centres
• School of International Trade (ESCI)
• School of Design (Elisava)
• Maresme University School of Business Studies (EUM)
• Mar University School of Nursing (EUIM)
postgraduate platforms1
• Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE)
• Barcelona Institute of Architecture (BIArch)
• Barcelona Institute for International Studies (IBEI)
• Continuing Education Institute (IDEC)
University research institutes
• University Institute of Culture (IUC)
• Jaume Vicens i Vives University Institute of History (IUHJVV)
• University Institute for Applied Linguistics (IULA)
2.2 courses offered
Bachelor’s degrees
UPF offered 25 bachelor’s degrees (19 at the institution’s own centres and 6 at affiliated centres)
during the 2009-2010 academic year. Table I below also includes the courses planned up to 2011.
Table I. Bachelor’s degrees offered (April 2010)
Bachelor’s
Degrees
Up to
2008-2009
2009-2010
academic year
Planned for
2010-2011
Under
proposal
Total
UPF
5
13
0
1
19
Interuniversity
degrees
1
0
0
0
1
UPF affiliated
centres
0
6
2
0
8
TOTAL
6
19
2
1
28
1. See action A10.
UPF CAMPUS
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19
postgraduate studies: master’s degrees and doctoral studies
During the 2009-2010 academic year, a total of 25 university master’s degrees and 9 doctoral
studies programmes (7 receiving a quality mention from the ministry) were offered by the 8 UPF
departments and the Jaume Vicens i Vives University Institute of History. Table II shows the university master’s degrees offered according to the coordinating institution and it also details the courses
envisaged up to 2011.
Table II. University master’s degrees offered (April 2010)
University
Master’s Degrees
Up to
2008-2009
2009-2010
academic year
Planned for
2010-2011
Under
proposal
Total
Fully taught by UPF
19
2
16
1
38
Coordinated
by UPF
3
1
3
0
7
Not coordinated
by UPF
10
2
1
4
17
TOTAL
32
5
20
5
62
Table II shows that the number of university master’s degrees offered for the 2010-2011 academic
year is much higher than previous years. This is because a total of 44 university master’s degrees will
be offered under the coordination of UPF once ANECA – the Spanish National Agency for Quality
Assessment and Accreditation – has carried out verifications. Further courses will be offered thanks
to the institution’s participation in 13 more university master’s degrees coordinated by other universities, meaning that UPF’s involvement in university master’s degrees will result in the university
participating in a total of 60 degrees, in other words, looking ahead to 2010-2011, 7 in every 10
official degrees will be master’s degrees.
These ties between undergraduate and postgraduate programmes will be possible owing to the policy
implemented by UPF in terms of university master’s degrees which shows a commitment to courses
fully taught by UPF whilst strengthening relations with the various teaching centres attached to the
UPF group (Barcelona GSE, IBEI, EUM, Elisava, IDEC) with the aim of transforming some of the
current training-oriented master’s degrees into university-based courses.
2.3 Demand and registration
Bachelor’s degrees
During the 2009-2010 academic year, 2428 new students registered with the university and 6096
from other courses. Furthermore, UPF has witnessed the greatest increase in demand for first choice
of all universities in the Catalan system (19% compared with 9.2%) (Uneix, April 2009). This
means, on average, that two first choice applications were submitted for every place on offer as table
III below shows.
Table III. Ratio of first choice places offered/demand for places (2009-2010 academic year)
UPF CAMPUS
20
Bachelor’s Degree
Offered
First choice
demand
O-D
O-D
TOTAL degree
courses at UPF
centres
2315
4156
-1841
1.8
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
postgraduate studies: master’s degrees and doctoral studies
During the 2009-2010 academic year, a total of 725 new students registered for university master’s degrees taught at UPF centres meaning that the total number of students following a master’s
degree at the university stood at 893. Similarly, during the aforementioned academic year a total
of 851 doctoral students were studying with the university including students who had embarked
on their courses (257), those who are studying a doctoral programme envisaged in Royal Decree
778/1998 (61) and students who had registered for their thesis tutorial (556). As far as doctoral theses are concerned, it is worth highlighting the fact that the number of theses presented for approval
in 2009 was 103, in line with the increase witnessed the previous year when the figure came to 115.
Table IV shows the number of UPF university master’s degrees offered and the demand for places
(pre-enrolment and registration of new students) at the UPF’s own centres during the 2009-2010
academic year.
Table IV. University master’s degrees (at UPF centres) offered, demand for places and registration
(2009-2010)
Places offered
(O)
TOTAL
(UPF centres)
940
Pre-enrolment
(D)
Registration of
new students (R)
Total
D/O
Total
R/O
1778
1.9
725
0.8
Total
registration
893
3. academic achievement
Bachelor’s degrees
An analysis of academic achievement at UPF using data from the 2008-2009 academic year shows
that, generally speaking, most of the university’s indicators (achievement, efficiency, graduation,
dropout) remain steady with a slight improvement being witnessed.
Table V. Change in achievement and efficiency rates (2004-2009)
2004-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-2008
2008-2009
81.2
80.5
81.5
82.9
83.1
89.18
89.42
90.11
89.69
90.02
achievement rate
(credits successfully completed as
a percentage of all credits registered by students)
efficiency rate
(this figure is obtained by dividing
the credits envisaged in the syllabus by the average total of credits
for which students who have successfully completed their studies
registered and then multiplying by
one hundred)
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Moreover, a slight improvement is shown for the second consecutive year when it comes to the
indicators referred to for the system as a whole, especially with regard to graduation and achievement, as shown in table VI.
Table VI. Change in graduation and dropout rates (2004-2009)
2004-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-2008
2008-2009
61.84
58.54
57.78
57.83
59.35
23.9
28.0
28.0
27.3
27.2
graduation rate
(the number of students who graduate
within the time envisaged in the
syllabus or within one extra year as a
percentage of all students who embarked on their studies in the same year)
Dropout rate
(the number of students who drop
out during the time envisaged in
the syllabus or within one extra
year as a percentage of all students
who embarked on their studies in
the same year)
In addition, this year, the number of students graduating within the precise time envisaged remained
high as it was last year, even showing a slight improvement, meaning that the figures have returned
to the levels attained 7 years ago, as shown in table VII.
Table VII. Change in graduation rate within the time envisaged (2004-2009)
graduation rate within
the time envisaged
(students graduating within the
time envisaged in the syllabus)
2004-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-2008
2008-2009
41.6
38.8
39.8
43.5
43.7
The same is the case with dropout due to failure to meet continuance standards during the first year,
the rate for which remains at 13%, its lowest level in recent years.
Table VIII. Change in dropout due to failure to meet continuance standards during the first year
(2004-2009)
Dropout due to failure
to meet continuance
standards during
the first year (%)
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2004-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-2008
2008-2009
16.0
16.6
14.3
13.1
13.0
Lastly, it is necessary to point out that the analysis of all information concerning academic achievement has been incorporated into the protocols of the Internal Quality Assurance System – a requirement by ANECA (within the VERIFICA programme) for all new degrees adapted to the EHEA – in
order to assess data in terms of strengths and weaknesses, to examine potential causes and, if necessary, to put forward suggestions for improvement.
4. teaching quality support units
The CQUID (Centre for Teaching Quality and Innovation) was set up in November 2007 in accordance with the previous Programme for Educational Quality (PQE) in order to address the latest
teaching needs stemming from aspects such as the implementation of new bachelor’s degrees adapted
to the European education area by providing support, training and advice to teaching staff and
projects that include innovation for university teaching.
strategic functions:
• Assuring the organisation and development of a pedagogical training plan for teaching staff
(initial and continuing education).
• Offering a pedagogical advice service.
• Promoting and supporting actions for pedagogical renewal and teaching innovation among
teaching staff to improve educational models.
• Providing technical assistance for teaching innovation projects that are of institutional interest
owing to their scope, characteristics or cross-disciplinary nature.
• Conducting research to improve teaching and learning methods in terms of theory and from the
standpoint of its application to UPF as a whole.
• Assisting with processes for assessing lecturers’ teaching activities with the exception of managing
the satisfaction survey.
5. Full commitment to the european Higher education area
UPF is fully committed to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) meaning that for the
2009-2010 academic year the university had already completed the implementation of its own
new bachelor’s degrees a year ahead of the deadline stipulated in current legislation.
Moreover, since April 2009 the first european Diploma supplements (EDS) were issued to accompany official university degrees which are valid nationwide.
The adaptation of degrees has been a gradual process:
• 2007-08 academic year: adaptation of 13 of the 18 UPF studies and 49% of subjects. This means
that 73% of new students to the university and 50% of the UPF’s undergraduate students were
following degrees that were fully adapted to the EHEA.
• 2008-09 academic year: the launch of 6 bachelor’s degrees adapted to the EHEA making UPF a
leading university in adapting to the European education area.
• 2009-2010 academic year: all bachelor’s degrees were adapted to the EHEA.
In addition, UPF has been engaged in the process for adaptation to the EHEA in several ways:
• Call of pilot tests to promote the process for adaptation to the EHEA (bachelor’s and master’s
degrees) in Catalan universities at undergraduate level and for European master’s degrees (Department for Universities, 2004-05 academic year): participation with 6 degrees.
• Institutional Plan for Adaptation to the EHEA: UPF strategic plan to promote gradual adaptation of all degrees to the EHEA.
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• Plan of Action for Innovation and Improvement in Teaching Quality (2001). Annual programme promoting teaching innovation initiatives on the part of lecturers wishing to engage in
innovation activities in their subjects. The programme envisages a range of measures including
“Bologna Experimentation” set up for lecturers who could begin to experiment with activities
linked to the Bologna teaching requirements in certain subjects.
6. postgraduate and Doctoral studies office
The adaptation of postgraduate degrees, master’s degrees and doctoral studies to the EHEA required
major changes that have a direct bearing on the programming, teaching and management processes
to be conducted at universities.
UPF is highly aware of the significance of master’s degrees and doctoral studies in shaping a strategic
range of educational courses with emphasis being placed on academic quality, internationalisation,
research, talent attraction, employment integration for postgraduates and doctors and the need to
engage in robust interuniversity alliances. It is also necessary not to overlook the mission to enhance
relations with the various centres and institutions within the UPF group, at an institutional level,
many of which play a prominent role in postgraduate studies.
In order to make it easier to manage this organisational network and provide it with the support it
requires, UPF has set up the Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies Office, a specialised unit within the
teaching area which is responsible for carrying out the tasks and duties of several management units
in terms of supporting and fostering continuing education. It will be incumbent on this office to
coordinate the management of postgraduate and doctoral studies, as well as activities linked to “lifelong learning” within the EHEA, taking into consideration the specific characteristics and respecting
the independent operation of university departments and institutes.
7. library/cRai
The UPF library has a useful area of 11,067 sq. m. distributed over its three locations (linked to the
university’s three fields of knowledge).
The university’s current commitments include the construction of the CRAI (Learning and Research
Resource Centre), a new model of a centre offering services for teaching and learning which incorporates all teaching support, learning and research services related to new technologies and information resources. Librarians, computer technicians and audiovisual technicians are among the many
members of staff working at the CRAI.
Key indicators (june 2010)
• Student capacity: 1795 study places
• Monographs: 594,840 copies
• E-journals: 13,532 titles
• Bibliographical collection: 23,603 linear metres
assessment and accreditation processes
The UPF library operates in a highly efficient manner, a fact confirmed by the following assessment
processes:
• ANECA quality certificate (2003).
• Two institutional assessments conducted by AQU Catalunya (1999 and 2006).
• The leading Spanish university library according to the Atlas digital de la España universitaria: bases
para la planificación estratégica de la enseñanza superior (2007). The Atlas was prepared by specialists from the University of Cantabria with the support of the University Coordination Board
(CCU), the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) and the Botín Foundation.
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• A prominent position in the indicators prepared yearly by REBIUN (the Network of University
Libraries), in particular with regard to the use of services and resources.
cross-disciplinary research and teaching support services.
• la Factoria (2007): support service for teaching and research staff and students in carrying out
their academic activities in line with the new European framework. La Factoria also provides
assistance with the use of the teaching platform (Aula Global Moodle) and in preparing teaching
materials and academic articles.
• scientific output portal: support service for researchers. This is a database compiling the scientific output of the university’s lecturers with two main aims: to disseminate information on the
research conducted at the university and to generate and manage researchers’ CVs.
• Digital repositories: this information system compiles, conserves and allows access to the intellectual output in a digital format (full text documents) produced by the university, generally with
open access for the entire scientific community. As well as the institutional repository, the university is also involved with other cooperative repositories.
8. scholarships
During the 2009-2010 academic year, demand for scholarships among UPF students grew by 44%
(from 1611 applications handled by AGAUR for 2008-2009 to 2326 for the current academic year).
204 of these were for master’s degrees. In addition, 45 have applied to pursue a university master’s
degree at UPF under the new scholarship scheme addressed to unemployed students and called by
the Ministry of Education and Science.
9. languages
9.1 plan of action for multilingualism (2007-2013)
The university’s institutional language policy is set out in the Plan of Action for Multilingualism,
which can be accessed on the university website and which centres on four goals:
• Fostering the Catalan language in all spheres of the university’s activity (primarily within the
bachelor’s degree).
• Lending English the status of a working language in the university.
• Assuring the principle of ‘linguistic security’ (the language for academic activities is public and
binding for everyone, students and teachers alike).
• Implementing a protocol for management of multilingualism in the classroom that seeks to
strike a balance between the linguistic rights and obligations of the entire UPF community.
9.2 language teaching programme (pei)
This programme was set up in 1999 with the primary aim of providing members of the university
community with skills in foreign languages (average number of participants: 1500). Main actions:
• The academic programme (following a level test) includes German, English, Arabic, Catalan,
Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian and Chinese. There are various levels pertaining to an academic year enabling students to sit external diploma examinations pertaining to foreign institutions.
Courses can also be followed to prepare for specific diplomas.
• At the same time, language education (English and Catalan) is provided for teaching and research staff and there are a range of Catalan and Spanish courses for students and lecturers.
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10. Key teaching quality indicators
The quality of teaching at the institution is demonstrated by various indicators (in which it is
compared to the system as a whole). Its position in national and international rankings, as well as in
external assessments, is also a significant indicator.
This latter group includes the final institutional report prepared by the european University association (EUA, July 2008) where one of the university’s strengths highlighted is the “high degree of
attention to teaching quality, as reflected in teachers’ comments and considerations and in student
comments and surveys” and it goes on to state that “Not only is UPF able to attract many of the
brightest students in the region or exchange students from abroad, at undergraduate level, or in some
of its most internationally oriented graduate programmes, graduates also show remarkable success in
labour market insertion, which sees around 90% of graduates find a job within six months of graduation. Moreover, the review team found out during its interviews, students are also clearly pleased
and proud to be at UPF”.
As far as the indicators are concerned, below is a breakdown of some of the key statistics in relation
to demand, achievement, satisfaction and employment integration.
Demand for studies
• Within the Catalan public system, UPF is the university that witnessed the greatest increase in
first choice demand during the 2009-2010 academic year at 22%.
• For all studies as a whole, 1.8 applications were submitted for every place on offer (2009-2010
academic year).
• Of the 10 highest cut-off marks in the system, 3 pertained to UPF degrees (2009-2010 academic
year).
academic achievement
• The highest graduation rate in the Catalan system: 59.4% (system average 29%) (UNEIX, 20092010 academic year):
• Graduation rate: four-year degrees (59.1%), three-year degrees (55%), second cycle (79.9%).
• 43.7 % of students graduated within the time envisaged.
• The highest rate of achievement within the Spanish system: 83.1% (CyD report, 2009).
• The lowest dropout rate in the Catalan system: 8.4% (2006-2007 academic year) (the average for
the Catalan system was 11.7%).
level of satisfaction
• Student satisfaction: 7.26/10 (in response to the question “Are you happy with the teaching
given?” from a quarterly survey assessing teaching as a whole at the university; internal statistics
from the 3rd term of the 2009-2010 academic year).
• Level of satisfaction of graduates: 7.8/10 (Study on the employment integration of UPF graduates, 2006).
• 90% of graduates would study again at the same university (Third study on the employment
integration of graduates of Catalan public universities, AQU Catalunya, 2008).
employment integration
• Level of employment integration: 93% (60% employed in jobs relating to their degrees) (2004
cohort; 3rd AQU study, 2008).
• Swiftness of integration: 87% found their first employment within 6 months of graduating
(2004 cohort; 3rd AQU study, 2008).
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11. teaching rankings
• First Spanish university in the field of social sciences according to the Times Higher Education
Supplement (2009), holding position 62 worldwide, and the fifth in arts and humanities. The
university also holds first place nationally for the teaching staff indicator. Overall, UPF holds
fifth place for Spanish institutions and 138th within European institutions.
• First position in the University Quality Assessment Ranking prepared by the University of
Santiago and published in Social Indicators Research (September 2008). UPF shares this position
with four other universities.
• top Spanish university library (Atlas digital de la España universitaria: bases para la planificación
estratégica de la enseñanza superior, 2007).
• second Spanish university in terms of teaching quality (CyD report, 2008)
• Fifth Spanish university in the 50 degrees ranking (El Mundo, 2010) holding the top position
for five degrees: Political Sciences, Audiovisual Communication, Economics, Humanities and
Labour Relations. Since 2002 UPF has always figured in the top ten.
• Fifth-seventh Spanish university and the 124-168th European university in the Academic Ranking of World Universities prepared by the University of Shanghai (ARWU 2010), an increase of
one percentile over the 2009 position in this ranking. It is worth drawing attention to this fact
because the ARWU does not weight the indicators according to the size of the institution. Indeed, the Spanish National Statistics Institute (2009) has determined that, according to size (i.e.,
number of students) UPF is at position 42 of the 48 institutions in the Spanish State system.
Moreover, the university is also the youngest (with 25 years in existence) of all those figuring in
the ranking. The only indicator that weights data on research results according to full-time staff
at the institution (Score PCP) rates UPF as the leading Spanish university with a score of 24.4
compared to 16.6 and 16.2 held by the next institutions.
• UPF is part of the excellence group in the fields of economics and business and in political and
social sciences according to the CHE-Excellence Ranking (2009).
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12. indicators of teaching improvement and adaptation to the eHea
Table IX. Indicators of teaching improvement and adaptation to the EHEA (2010-2015)
Ref.
Indicator
2009-2010
academic year
Target
for 2015
1.1
Number of students
following bachelor’s degrees
8711
10,000
1.2
Number of students
following master’s degrees
893
1500
1.3
Number of students
following doctoral studies
874
1500
1.4
Percentage of foreign
students following master’s
degrees
36%
40%
1.5
Percentage of foreign
students following doctoral
studies
39%
40%
1.6
Number of accredited
degrees
19 (100%)
22
1.7
Number of accredited
master’s degrees
24 (30%)
50
1.8
Number of foreign
lecturers
15.1%2
20%
1.9
Percentage of master’s degrees offered in English
66.66%3
75%
1.10
Average number of
doctoral theses in the last
three years
95
150
1.11
Number of internships
offered at institutions
linked to the university
1044
2500
1.12
Percentage of adapted
classrooms
80%
100%
1.13
Percentage of classrooms
with Internet connection
100%
100%
1.14
Percentage of classrooms
with a video projector
100%
100%
1.15
Percentage of areas with
Wi-Fi coverage
100%
100%
1.16
Percentage of subjects including virtual education
100%
100%
1.17
Number of videoconferencing halls
4
8
1.18
Number of smaller halls for
smaller groups
66
80
1.19
Number of laboratories
with IT and audiovisual
equipment
30
36
2. Teaching and research staff as at 1/1/2010, excluding scholarship holders and teaching assistants, who are not Spanish nationals.
3. 33.3 % offered entirely in English.
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ii. actions
The proposal to make UPF a campus of international excellence constitutes a new challenge for a
university that is used to witnessing change and whose guiding mission is to achieve excellence. Internationalisation, strategic differentiation, interuniversity cooperation, research having international
outreach, continuing education for society as a whole and academic excellence all form the foundations of a university model that constantly endeavours to adapt itself to suit new demands and the
expectations of society.
Adaptation to the EHEA called for major educational changes involving a new way of conducting all
manner of processes relating to learning, teaching, tutorials and teaching assessment, among others.
The actions planned seek to consolidate this change and to provide teaching staff and students with
the tools needed to successfully adapt to the changes. UPF applies these tools as the foundation to a
comprehensive plan for improving teaching and learning on the basis of the following commitments:
• Education forming the essence of individual and collective progress.
• Continual pedagogical innovation and renewal.
• Postgraduate studies forming a future commitment.
• An international calling: mobility and specific programmes for foreign students.
• Integration of resources and educational technology aimed at improving quality.
• Opening up to the business world and strategic associates.
• Linguistic skills as the key to personal, academic and professional development.
• Awareness of society’s other continuing education demands.
This section envisages thirteen actions within four key areas:
teaching quality and improvement of learning
• A1: Learning and teaching support programme
• A2: Tutorial plan of action
• A3: Promotion of internships
• A4: Modernisation of the services and facilities at the library/CRAI
internationalisation and multilingualism. strategic alliances
• A5: Plan of Action for Multilingualism
• A6: UPF International Experience project
• A7: UPF Global Network Initiative project
• A8: A4U International project
promotion of postgraduate studies
• A9: Promotion of postgraduate studies and the establishment of the Postgraduate
and Doctoral Studies Office
• A10: Plan for promoting postgraduate schools in the UPF group
association with the Uoc and new projects within the framework of the eHea
• A11: Implementation of cross-disciplinary bachelor’s degrees
• A12: Continuing education: recognition of professional skills
• A13: Bimodal teaching cooperation projects on interuniversity undergraduate
and postgraduate programmes (UPF-UOC)
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a1: leaRning anD teacHing
sUppoRt pRogRamme
0. introduction
The principles enshrined in the European education area make it necessary to implement a programme that helps the university as a whole to take on new challenges, competences and functions
brought about by this educational framework.
This programme is considered vital as part of the commitment to transforming UPF into a campus of
international excellence. It will incorporate a host of activities in various fields to support quality teaching: education, innovation, assessment and monitoring of teaching quality, taking into consideration
the specific characteristics of each syllabus and the application of new teaching methods at all times.
In order to carry out the educational activities envisaged in this programme and to raise awareness of
the Centre for Teaching Quality and Innovation (CQUID) among teaching staff, UPF plans to build
a facility equipped with the latest technologies to foster training, the sharing of experiences, the
exchange of best practices and teaching advice.
1. mission
Providing teaching staff with a comprehensive learning and teaching support programme endowing them with the tools needed to provide quality teaching in keeping with the European model to
achieve academic excellence.
2. goals
• Implementing a teaching staff training model with emphasis on internationalisation and excellence in teaching in a setting that encourages the sharing of ideas, group work and use of the
latest technologies for face-to-face training or distance education.
• Fostering participation in interuniversity innovation projects.
• Providing the support needed to engage in new projects linked to teaching.
• Benefitting from a suitable environment in order to conduct the activities envisaged in the training plan.
3. actions
• Setting up, adapting and equipping a setting for fostering teaching innovation and quality.
UPF has planned a major teaching improvement project in the form of the QUID (teaching quality
and innovation) system. This network structure incorporates a Centre for Teaching Quality and Innovation (CQUID), the heart of the project from which all training, innovation and quality actions
in relation to teaching are organised. The network is formed by USQUID (Support to Quality and
Teaching Innovation) units at each faculty providing specific support for teaching staff working at
the centre in conjunction with the CQUID in developing the QUID plan for teaching quality and
innovation.
This network of organisation requires an area that is conducive to carrying out activities. For this
reason, UPF plans to set up the “QUID Area” where lecturers can benefit from a comprehensive
centre for training, for conducting methodological workshops and for receiving advice on all aspects
relating to teaching quality.
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• Fostering a grants programme for the best innovation and teaching improvement projects prepared by teaching staff. In order to encourage innovation and teaching improvement projects to
be carried out, UPF offers a range of grants to teaching staff who submit the best projects in the
following areas:
• Projects for innovation or teaching and learning improvement
• Studies for quality, innovation and educational research
• Dissemination of training experiences
• Organisation of interuniversity meetings
• Implementing a specific, cross-disciplinary protocol for the integration and training of teaching
and research staff with an intensive plan for receiving new teaching staff and assistants.
• Diversifying the Initial Training in University Teaching (FIDU) programme, ensuring it is
tailored to suit new learning trends and internationalisation and mobility needs, and ensuring it
receives recognition or accreditation from an external quality assessment agency.
• Disseminating excellence in innovation and teaching quality at UPF and obtaining recognition
for the best teaching practices in line with international standards by setting up a UPF Observatory that will include computer and teaching resources in keeping with exemplary teaching
practices.
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4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
Setting up and adapting a
setting for fostering teaching
innovation and training
activities
32
2013-2014
x
Plan for training on new
teaching methods
x
Number of teaching support
courses
60
70
80
80
Number of grants for teaching innovation projects
80
90
90
100
Setting up the UPF Observatory on best teaching
practices
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x
Number of interactive UPF
Aula Global platforms
900
1000
1000
1200
Number of pilot classrooms
with intensive use of educational technology prior to
becoming the standard for
the UPF model
3
3
4
7
E-learning and e-teaching
environment: a host of
strategies and resources for
the integration of new technologies into the classroom:
collaborative digital tools
x
x
A host of multilingual
materials and resources
available (see section on
Multilingualism)
x
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
a2: tUtoRial plan oF action
0. introduction
In line with EHEA guidelines, UPF is committed to quality teaching based on close relations with
students. As part of this philosophy, reflected in the UPF25 YEARS Strategy, the Icària International
project envisages implementing a coordinated and integrated system for offering students assistance,
monitoring and guidance throughout their time at the university.
This tutorial plan of action will be founded on an analysis and assessment of existing tutorial
programmes applied at several centres and it will include those practices which prove to be most
effective. In addition, it will help to coordinate the various activities the university conducts for new
students (university introduction courses, relations with upper secondary centres, and so on) all
under a single programme that will be constantly monitored.
1. mission
Developing an innovative, quality teaching and learning model, ensuring that the necessary support
systems are put in place to suit each specific context. This will allow for a comprehensive, overall approach to teaching and learning.
2. goals
• Promoting an integrated, coordinated system for assisting and guiding students throughout their
academic career ensuring they can adapt to university life, taking into consideration their origin
and educational needs.
• Integrating the various actions carried out by the university in this regard, especially when it
comes to relations with upper secondary education centres.
• Identifying potential shortcomings in the initiatives implemented to date and incorporating
improvements.
3. actions
• Presenting and approving a tutorial plan of action implementing process-based tutorials (in line
with the Cambridge and Oxford model), as well as a personal development plan before the end
of 2010.
• Defining and implementing this comprehensive tutorial model so it incorporates information,
management, communication and education processes.
• Defining a process for continually assessing the tutorial plan of action which will make it possible
to examine potential shortcomings and strengths in the plan at the end of the academic year for
all syllabi, working in conjunction with the academic staff at each centre to address shortcomings
and implement the suggestions for improvement.
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4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
Approval of the tutorial plan
of action and the regulations
for the tutorial model at
UPF
x
Implementation of a pilot
scheme for the tutorial plan
of action for two degrees
x
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Monitoring, assessment and
implementation of improvements based on the results of
the pilot scheme
x
Percentage of degrees for
which the tutorial plan of
action is implemented
25%
45%
70%
Monitoring, assessment and
implementation of improvements based on the results of
the tutorial plan of action
x
x
x
a3: pRomotion oF inteRnsHips
0. introduction
Quality education should enable graduates to succeed in finding employment in their specific fields
of knowledge. To achieve this, professional internships provide students with an ideal opportunity to
apply their knowledge they have acquired during undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
UPF is only too familiar with the importance of this background of knowledge as part of comprehensive education. Accordingly, in order to become a campus of international excellence, the university envisages focussing on the design, implementation and monitoring of new internship models
suited to each specific syllabus, encouraging greater student involvement and fostering internationalisation as a major asset.
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1. mission
Implementing internship models to suit the various fields of knowledge aimed at fostering students’
professional acknowledgment and integration and promoting internationalisation to the greatest
extent possible.
2. goals
• Increasing student participation in current calls for internships during undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
• Encouraging students to undertake internships in an international environment.
• Consolidating external professional networks with the involvement of the Board of Trustees by
signing agreements with companies, organisations and institutions ensuring the quality of internships.
3. actions
• Defining the management protocol for international internships and the scheme for customised
guidance and advice during the placement.
• Promoting international internships by means of internal and external calls (UPF, Leonardo
scheme, etc.) with grants for students who choose the international option.
• Expanding on internships for students using mechanisms and resources that allow for the practical training needed whilst fostering mobility in accordance with EHEA standards.
• Signing agreements with companies, institutions and organisations in a range of fields assuring the quality of internships.
• Signing agreements with institutions having extensive experience in managing internships
and which are closely linked to the business world.
• Conducting a pilot test between UPF and the Catalonia Board of Chambers of Commerce to
devise, develop and endorse a methodology and specific system for providing support in the
management, monitoring and assessment of internships in the university community. This
system should envisage mechanisms for approving companies, assessing satisfaction among
the main parties involved (university centres, companies and students), and so on.
• Promoting interactive relations between companies, universities and students by using web 2.0
technology: social networking, social bookmarking, media sharing, blogging and syndication.
• Based on information compiled on the operation of the system, building a knowledge base to
help monitor how the demand for professional profiles on the part of companies evolves with
regard to the education offered through university studies.
• Defining specific internship models as part of postgraduate programmes (for master’s degrees and
doctoral studies).
• Involving the Board of Trustees in encouraging representatives from the international scene to
take part in the programme.
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4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
Defining the UPF internship
map with an international
outlook
x
2011-2012
Conducting a pilot project in
association with the Catalonia
Board of Chambers of Commerce to develop a methodology and specific system for
providing support in managing, monitoring and assessing
internships in the university
community
x
Developing a computer application for management and
tutorials for internships
x
Setting up the regulatory
framework for international
internships and making internships generally applicable for
all new degrees
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2012-2013
2013-2014
x
Number of agreements signed
and yearly increase in the
number of internships as
part of studies adapted to the
EHEA
300
500
700
Number of credits successfully
completed by means of internships undertaken as part of
studies adapted to the EHEA
3000
5000
7000
Defining specific internship
models for postgraduate programmes (master’s degrees and
doctoral studies)
x
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
a4: moDeRnisation oF tHe seRvices
anD Facilities at tHe liBRaRy/cRai
0. introduction
The social sciences and humanities library/CRAI, annexed to the Social Sciences and HumanitiesUPF Research Park, is a powerful instrument that is widely used by UPF researchers in this particular field, and it constitutes a benchmark for external scholars and researchers.
This library will be transformed into a strategic service of the Social Sciences and Humanities-UPF
Research Park which can be freely accessed by researchers from the research centres located in the
park.
The project includes completing the indoor refurbishment of the Dipòsit de les Aigües building and
the modernisation and expansion of the bibliographical collection, along with the improvement of
information retrieval and e-resource access systems.
1. mission
To support and make known the activities of the Social Sciences and Humanities-UPF Research
Park.
2. goal
To transform the UPF social sciences and humanities library/CRAI into a benchmark in the field,
holding a prominent position within the European university system.
3. actions
• Completing the refurbishment of the Dipòsit de les Aigües.
• Enhancing the bibliographical collection and make it more specialised.
• Modernising the management of bibliographical collections by incorporating technologies and
equipment making it possible to improve control and management processes.
• Improving information resource access systems, in particular e-systems, by incorporating new
instruments and computer applications (Discovery Tools, ERM, etc.) to make it easier for users
to retrieve information.
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4 indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Documents with RFID tags
150,000
350,000
550,000
750,000
Donations included in the
collection
10,000
40,000
70,000
90,000
Number of digitised documents
1000
4000
7000
9000
a5: plan oF action FoR mUltilingUalism
0. introduction
One of UPF’s outstanding features is the emphasis the university has placed on internationalisation
ever since it was founded. The institution has offered education based on the academic and researchrelated endeavours of lecturers from all over the world for the benefit of students from all manner of
nationalities. This characteristic has heightened over the years to the point where during the 20092010 academic year students graduating from the university came from some 37 different countries.
To foster and encourage a genuinely international environment, the necessary support structure
must be in place to promote language learning. To achieve this, UPF has prepared a plan of action
for multilingualism incorporating a range of initiatives intended for the university community as a
whole.
1. mission
Consolidating the university’s multilingual model by implementing the strategy enshrined in the
Plan of Action for Multilingualism as a key instrument for encouraging internationalisation among
the university community.
2. goals
• Establishing English as regular working language at the university, particularly for postgraduate
studies.
• Fostering the use of Catalan in all spheres of university life.
• Ensuring linguistic security for students and lecturers whereby the language in which activities
are conducted shall be public and binding for everyone.
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3. actions
• Setting up the Pompeu Fabra Language Learning Centre fitted with all the resources needed to
encourage self-learning.
• This centre will make it easier to support and strengthen linguistic training initiatives for the
university community as a whole and encourage the implementation and consolidation of
the UPF Plan of Action for Multilingualism.
• Implementing and consolidating the Plan of Action for Multilingualism (2007-13) (PAM) at an
institutional, academic and administrative level using instruments for comprehensive action (in
statutory, informational and educational terms and with respect to support and encouragement).
• Consolidating the Catalan language at UPF ensuring also that English is present as a lingua
franca for international communication and that Spanish is present as a jointly official and
useful language for many incoming students, whilst assuring the presence of other languages.
• Organising institutional language programmes and services to ensure the implementation of
the plan.
• Providing information about the implementation and development of the PAM among the
university community.
• Managing multilingualism within the EHEA with a specific plan for training bachelor’s degree
teaching staff and students in a third language (English).
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4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Number of English and
Catalan language education
courses for lecturers and
students
22
22
23
24
Setting up the Pompeu Fabra
language self-learning centre
x
Linguistic welcome programme for bachelor’s degree
students
All degrees
All degrees
All degrees
All degrees
Percentage of students taking
the Language Assessment
Exam (PDL) during their
first year of bachelor’s degree
studies
50%
60%
70%
75%
16
16
16
Minimum number of ECTS
credits in English offered
throughout third and fourth
year in all bachelor’s degree
studies
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Presence of English in
master’s degrees
60%
70%
70%
75%
Percentage of subjects for
which the teaching language
is announced on the website
100%
100%
100%
100%
Percentage of teaching staff
qualified to give teaching in
English
20%
25%
30%
40%
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
a6: UpF inteRnational expeRience pRoject
0. introduction
As a university with a high international profile UPF includes internationalisation as one of the key
goals in its 25YEARS Strategy in order to attract greater talent year-by-year in terms of quality and
numbers whilst promoting mobility within the university community. The university has set itself
the target of ensuring that 50% of students graduate having attained international experience in
their fields. Indeed, UPF is committed to consolidating and building on this trait that enables the
university to stand out, lending it added value.
1. mission
Increasing the intensity and scope of international “experience” (personal, academic and professional
experiences) in relation to the mobility of incoming students and the university community at large.
2. goals
• Improving the quality of international reception, enhancing services with a view to promoting
genuine integration and extending them to apply to all profiles (students, teachers and researchers alike), meeting new needs in terms of demand and expectations.
• Promoting various kinds of “international experience” among all groups making up the university community (students, graduates, doctors, postdoctoral degree holders, lecturers, researchers
and administrative and service staff), fostering the internationalisation of the UPF university
community.
• Appealing to the best international candidates to incorporate them within academic programmes
of excellence and promote strategic research projects.
3. actions
• international Helpdesk programme laying the structural foundations for developing the reception plan envisaged in the UPF25 YEARS Strategy:
• Integrating services intended for the international community into a multi-purpose environment to provide a single highly customised helpdesk service.
• Providing internal training in English, as well as training of front line assistance staff in
intercultural skills.
• Designing an online website-based communication strategy, as well as promotion materials
addressing the informational needs of the various profiles within UPF’s potential international group (exchange students, prospective students, visiting scholars/professors, calls to recruit
international teaching staff, etc.).
• Developing interdepartmental management and communication tools for the exchange of
information and automated, comprehensive processing of incoming students, lecturers and
researchers.
• Implementing the reception plan in coordination with the mobility plan by means of initiatives
that promote relations and exchanges between the international group and the remainder of the
university community:
• Promoting the mentor as a figure for liaising local and international students encouraging the
integration of international students whilst involving local students in international mobility.
• Involving students’ groups and associations in the organisation of activities.
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• Coordinating an international mobility exhibition where international students introduce
their universities and sessions are organised under the themes ‘Studying & Living in…’ and
‘Working in…’ to lend new impetus to mobility.
• Expanding on the studies offered within the Language Training Programme which currently offers Catalan and Spanish courses free of charge (in full or in part) for international
students. Likewise, the PEI also offers training in 8 international languages.
• Implementing the mobility plan creatively to enable the greatest number of individuals to benefit from an international experience:
• Launching an international internship programme for students and graduates making use
of scholarship programmes and relations in which UPF engages with local companies and
multinationals.
• Preparing a call for the mobility of the more sedentary groups, such as administrative and
service staff, who play a vital role in managing UPF’s transformation into a university of
international excellence.
• Preparing a call for the academic and professional mobility of postdoctoral students and
junior teaching staff.
• Acknowledging local students and lecturers who take part in customised courses or programmes intended for foreign universities and students, as well as administrative and service
staff (International Staff Days) in order to promote internationalisation at UPF.
• talent programme
• Making efficient use of existing channels for relations (22@ and other areas of cooperation at
an institutional level) and communication.
• Incorporating online tools for recruitment and marketing.
• Ensuring presence at international higher education and employment exhibitions.
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4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Number of individuals assisted
2500
3000
3500
4000
Percentage of graduates with
international experience
32%
34%
37%
40%
Number of UPF students on
mobility by means of international internships
15
25
30
50
Number of UPF administrative and service staff on mobility
7
10
15
25
Number of participants on
language courses
800
850
900
1000
Number of non-Spanish
teaching and research staff
and research support staff
175
180
200
225
Percentage of foreign students
following master’s degrees
(registration)
36%
38%
40%
42%
a7: UpF gloBal netWoRK initiative pRoject
0. introduction
Despite its relative size and age, UPF has established a place for itself on the international map by
forging a dense network involving more than 300 bilateral and multilateral cooperation agreements
with universities of acknowledged prominence, and the institution is present in all continents and
plans to expand with regard to Asia.
Aside from traditional academic mobility, UPF has ventured towards implementing double degrees
and applying for European projects in order to carry out joint programmes, in addition to continuing with international development cooperation initiatives. Unquestionably, these are future areas
that should be developed based on the experience and opportunities afforded by institutional participation in interuniversity cooperation networks:
• CASB (the Consortium for Advanced Studies in Barcelona, in which the main universities of
the Ivy League are represented), organised locally through the Barcelona Group (UB, UAB and
UPF).
• The Maastricht Group in Europe (negotiating a merger with the RISE Consortium – Raising the
Impact of Socio-Economic Sciences).
• ERACOL Erasmus Mundus, Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama group, fostering the mobility of
students in the field of health sciences.
• A4U Alliance as a springboard for Spanish universities.
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Accordingly, UPF must take advantage of its current position and set itself in good stead for providing a response to the wealth of possibilities arising in this field.
1. mission
Ensuring UPF attains international presence, importance and standing owing to the quality of its
teaching and research.
2. goals
• Raising the quality and appeal of UPF studies offered by engaging in a series of privileged dealings that will lead to the promotion of joint programmes.
• Forging educational cooperation and research projects within the framework of international and
European calls to give the activities being carried out by UPF, in conjunction with other universities from other parts of the world, a seal of quality.
• Engaging in institutional cooperation in Asia.
3. actions
• enhancing institutional cooperation with the universities chosen in the Usa (Brown, Boston,
Cornell, Chicago, Pennsylvania, SUNY, NYU, among others), europe (Maastricht, Toulouse,
CEU Budapest, University College Dublin, Mannheim, Trento, Sciences Po, among others) and
in latin america:
projects:
• Preparation of an Erasmus Mundus project, action 2 (part of the North America package),
fostering the mobility of doctoral and postgraduate students, as well as teaching staff.
• Preparation of an Atlantis project on Independent Studies (mobility for the purposes of
research) in the field of humanities.
• Curricular development in conjunction with European universities in the field of biomedical
engineering.
• Boost for setting up a network of medical research centres and schools in Canada.
• Promotion of joint master’s degrees in the field of business under the auspices of the Maastricht Group.
• Fostering of the CIEL master’s degree (Comparative International and European Law) as a
future Erasmus Mundus master’s degree.
• Coordination of the Ibero-American network of law faculties under the auspices of the 4
Universities Alliance.
• ALFA project at the Department of Law.
programmes:
• Legal studies programmes offered as pre-law education for North-American universities (first
edition: spring 2011).
• Organisation of semesters abroad as initial steps on the path to double degrees in the field of
economics (NYU), communication/journalism (Albany-SUNY) and humanities (Binghampton-SUNY).
• positioning in asia by implementing actions in individual countries under a new leadership
position: rector’s delegate for relations with Asian universities.
• Korea: definition of cooperation projects with the Korea Foundation and KOFAC, as well as
SKY (Seoul National, Korea and Yonsei) universities.
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ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
• China: definition of participation in Confucius Institutes and development of agreements
with C9 (Zhejiang, Fudan, Tsinghua, Nanjing) universities.
• Japan: definition of cooperation projects with the Japan Foundation and with certain renowned universities (Keio, Hitotsubashi, Tokyo, Kobe).
• Exploration of interests and existing ties with other countries on the continent.
• Implementing information management and coordination tools (map of international partners incorporating mobility, cooperation and research).
• Designing and organising an international graduate summer school using cooperation
with international partners to reshape the current range of summer schools offered by institutions in the group (CREI and the Barcelona GSE, for instance) into an integrated project
to appeal to prominent researchers.
• Bcn-nyc programme to implement privileged two-way dealings with universities from
New York city, expanding on ties that transcend the centres themselves in order to incorporate the cities, their values and their economic, political and social agents based on the idea
that universities also help to shape the city.
4. indicators and forecast
Since this is a medium- and long-term strategy, quantitative indicators will only gain relevance over
the course of a greater timescale as the projects need time to bear fruit. Nonetheless, in the short-term,
monitoring the situation, taking into consideration the qualitative indicators, is a worthwhile task.
Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Number of double/joint
degrees
5
6
8
10
Number of projects submitted to European and international bids
5
7
10
15
Number of customised academic programmes shared with
foreign universities
3
5
7
10
Number of schemes for cooperation with Asia
6
10
12
15
Number of participants in
the Barcelona IGSS
0
25
35
50
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a8: a4U inteRnational pRoject
0. introduction
The UPF internationalisation strategy is highly dependent on its international alliances, though it
also depends on the approach it makes to engaging in national alliances. This area of action is enshrined in UPF’s participation in the 4 Universities Alliance (A4U) and the university’s highly active
international relations working group.
Formed by the vice-rectors and those in charge of international relations at the four universities in
the alliance (UAM, UAB, UC3M and UPF), this working group conducts its activities thanks to
sponsorship from ICEX in countries that are priorities for Spain, engaging in commercial strategies
and institutional relations in higher education. Indeed, the A4U acts as a springboard for Spanish
universities and its mission is forged by the role played by the Universidad.es Foundation to help
Spanish universities achieve greater standing abroad.
1. mission
The aim of the A4U international is to help the universities in the alliance to obtain a privileged
position in strategic countries.
2. goals
• Engaging in institutional cooperation with emerging countries in order to take advantage of opportunities in the field of teaching and research.
• Encouraging the best students to register on the postgraduate programmes offered by the universities in the alliance.
• Strengthening the image and renown of universities abroad by means of joint, coordinated actions with other institutions.
3. actions
• Foraying into and implementation in emerging countries, especially the BRic (Brazil, Russia,
India and China), with enormous potential for growth and talent attraction. On account of their
complex nature and size, these countries form part of the A4U’s goals for action, adopting an
approach to its missions in a joint fashion.
• Signing framework cooperation agreements with the main institutions and universities in
each country.
• Promoting and laying out cooperation projects between research groups.
• Submitting Erasmus Mundus bids.
• joint promotion as a core of Spanish excellence in international forums and congresses:
• Shared stands and conferences.
• Dealings with other national alliances (C9 China, Go8 Australia, etc.).
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ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Number of joint missions
2
3
4
6
Number of new institutional
cooperation agreements signed
by the A4U
4
6
8
10
Number of new institutional
cooperation agreements signed
by UPF
2
4
6
8
a9: pRomotion oF postgRaDUate stUDies
anD tHe estaBlisHment oF tHe
postgRaDUate anD DoctoRal stUDies oFFice
0. introduction
As defined in the UPF25 YEARS Strategy document, one of the key challenges the university has set
itself for the future is to offer a range of distinguished postgraduate studies, in line with the Lisbon
agenda. To achieve this, the university has implemented educational programmes in line with its
exceptional quality standards, focussed on research and taking into consideration the diverse range of
students to which they are addressed.
The UPF’s characteristics (drawing in a high number of students from increasingly further afield,
having a broad number of interuniversity programmes and a major degree of internationalisation)
place the institution in a privileged position when it comes to the postgraduate studies offered.
Indeed, it is the field of study in which the university will witness the greatest level of growth in the
coming years and, accordingly, UPF needs to place particular emphasis on this area in the goals and
actions forming part of its project to become a campus of international excellence.
1. mission
Developing and building on postgraduate and doctoral programmes as an appropriate setting for
the fusion of teaching, research and transfer, educating and training professionals to a high level of
specialisation and experience.
2. goals
• Building on a firm, articulated range of programmes with a commitment to developing interuniversity strategies and lines.
• Benefitting from a management core specialised in postgraduate and doctoral programmes to
firmly establish and boost the internationalisation of such programmes whilst providing support
to other projects in the sphere of continuing education.
• Managing the existing range of postgraduate studies offered according to criteria of internationalisation and excellence (quality standards as per the EHEA).
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3. actions
• Setting up a Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies Office as a technical body to provide support in
the management of postgraduate and doctoral programmes, helping to promote internationalisation through international interuniversity programmes. This office will also be responsible for
organising actions to foster all aspects of continuing education.
• The office will coordinate postgraduate studies (master’s degrees and doctoral programmes)
offered by UPF departments directly or those offered by all the institutions in the UPF group,
including renowned centres with an international calling:
• The Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE)
• The Barcelona Institute for International Studies (IBEI)
• The Continuing Education Institute (IDEC)
• Designing and presenting a range of postgraduate programmes adapted to new needs in the
professional and research setting.
• In terms of master’s degrees for professional development, particularly noteworthy is the implementation of the master’s degree for preparation of professional legal practice (201011 academic year), in cooperation with the Association of Lawyers of Barcelona, with the
participation of some of the foremost law and legal consultancy firms in Spain (Cuatrecasas,
Garrigues, Roca Junyent, Uría). This master’s degree will entail a highly intensive programme
in terms of knowledge transfer with the emphasis on professional practice in top international settings. The programme strives to meet legal requirements (which as of 2011 demand that
postgraduate studies for educating future lawyers be monitored) and it also unfolds through
a modular design meaning it can be combined with other programmes in order to meet the
training needs of those already practising the profession (lifelong learning) and of graduates
from other countries interested in professional practice in Spain and Europe.
• Reviewing and assessing the postgraduate programmes offered at an international level and in
terms of their suitability to European quality standards.
• Establishing new interuniversity alliances and strengthening those already in place with respect
to postgraduate programmes. Work is currently underway on the presentation of Erasmus Mundus master’s degrees and doctoral studies in the following interdisciplinary areas:
• Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in Biocomputing.
• Erasmus Mundus master’s degree/doctorate in IT Management (UPF-Stuttgart-TrondheimTampere Univ. of Technology-TELECOM Bretagne-Twente-UC3M).
• Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in Bioengineering.
• Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in History and Colonialism.
• Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in Political Science (University of Konstanz).
• Defining and integrating an authentic UPF teaching and learning model within the process for
preparing, drawing up and presenting the PhD dissertation.
• Planning actions for postdoctoral education and training in teaching in cooperation with other
universities.
• Providing professional and skills-related guidance to those taking part in the programme.
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4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
Setting up the Postgraduate
and Doctoral Studies Office
x
Setting up environments for
learning and working through
networking (with UPF’s virtual environment) specifically for master’s
degrees and doctoral studies
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
x
Number of actions for training
and ongoing, customised advice for teaching in postgraduate
programmes
0
10
12
14
Number of interuniversity
alliances with institutions in
which the UPF participates for
offering master’s degrees
24
26
28
30
Number of interuniversity
alliances with institutions for
offering master’s degrees coordinated by UPF
8
10
12
14
40
60
20% increase in the educational programmes taught
at institutes offering official
postgraduate programmes
Number of doctoral students
with cross-disciplinary training:
skills assessments and optional
training programmes
Professional guidance plan:
PhD holders and doctoral
students
x
0
20
x
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a10: plan FoR pRomoting postgRaDUate
scHools in tHe UpF gRoUp
0. introduction
As detailed in the UPF25 YEARS Strategy, the university “strives to attain acknowledgment as a
research-based university and, with regard to teaching, it endeavours particularly to place emphasis
on postgraduate and doctoral studies”. To do so, in addition to its own departments, UPF counts on
the support of exceptional partners: affiliated centres in the UPF group.
These centres all have acknowledged prestige on the international stage and they are vital parts in the
jigsaw, forging teaching of excellence and building an exceptional acquaintance of educational needs
in the business spheres.
UPF is only too familiar with the importance of this background of knowledge nurtured by cooperation with its strategic partners for the benefit of the university as a whole. Accordingly, it envisages
implementing a promotion plan to enhance existing relations and cooperation, strengthening and
optimising the capabilities of all players involved in offering a range of postgraduate programmes of
excellence which stands out owing to the exceptional levels of professionalism and internationalisation.
1. mission
Increasing the university’s support and cooperation with education centres offering postgraduate
studies within the UPF group.
2. goals
• Contributing to international talent attraction by incorporating junior lecturers and senior visiting lecturers with prominent international profiles to take part in master’s degree programmes
and supervise research projects.
• Improving strategies for appealing to, assisting and educating students in order to continue to
foster quality postgraduate and doctoral studies.
3. actions
• Designing a plan for promoting the postgraduate schools in the UPF group which envisages relations between the university and the postgraduate platforms pertaining to the UPF group and
which stand out owing to their international outreach and calling, and also on account of their
alliance with other universities, for instance4:
• Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE)
• Barcelona Institute for International Studies (IBEI)
• Continuing Education Institute (IDEC)
4. See section E) Associates for an in-depth description of these institutions and the improvements these associates are expected to bring about in the Icària International project.
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4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
Preparation and implementation
of the UPF group promotion plan
x
The incorporation of junior
lecturers and senior visiting
lecturers to take part in master’s
degree programmes and supervise research projects
x
The analysis of strategies for
appealing to, assisting and
educating students
x
Implementation of a gradual improvement and follow-up plan
2012-2013
2013-2014
x
x
x
a11: implementation oF cRoss-DisciplinaRy
BacHeloR’s DegRees
0. introduction
Adaptation to the EHEA has led to much debate and consideration about how the range of studies
offered by university institutions is suited to and meets the needs of the society into which graduates
are required to integrate. The examination of this dichotomy was decisive in UPF embarking on a
project that has a broad tradition in renowned western universities: implementing cross-disciplinary
bachelor’s degrees.
UPF has laid firm foundations for planning cross-disciplinary studies thanks to the various fields of
knowledge that easily complement one another. This enables the university to make appropriate use
of existing resources and strengths in those disciplines in which UPF has built up extensive experience, offering widely acknowledged quality. Such a cross-disciplinary scheme will be promoted by
combining existing degrees under a range of various organisational forms (simultaneous studies,
consecutive studies, double degrees, etc.), whilst organising and implementing new degrees having
interdisciplinary characteristics.
1. mission
Forging an appealing range of cross-disciplinary bachelor’s degrees for students in order to meet the
needs of society along the lines of those offered by international benchmark universities.
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2. goals
• Offering comprehensive, multi-faceted interdisciplinary education.
• Generating new professional graduate profiles with huge prospects for employment integration.
3. actions
• Preparing a framework document establishing the academic characteristics of cross-disciplinary
bachelor’s degree studies and defining a management protocol for these degrees.
• Planning the bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering (for the 2010-2011 academic year)
and two new cross-disciplinary bachelor’s degrees by 2013 and assessing the potential to offer
two more looking ahead to 2015.
• Approving specific bachelor’s degree programmes combining existing studies to provide for
multi-faceted, innovative profiles based on the disciplinary affinities among those studies (for
instance: Law and Business Management and Administration/Economics; Law and Political Sciences; Law and Criminology; Journalism and Humanities, Journalism and Economics; Journalism and Political Sciences, and so on).
• Assessing the results of the first degrees.
4. indicators and forecast
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Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Number of newly-planned
cross-disciplinary degrees
1
0
2
0
Preparation of the framework
document, management protocol and follow-up plan
x
Implementation of specific
bachelor’s degree programmes
offered
0
2
3
5
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
a12: continUing eDUcation: Recognition
oF pRoFessional sKills
0. introduction
Article 6 of Royal Decree 861/2010 incorporates a provision which, despite being new in Spain, has
been successfully applied for a number of years in several European countries: “Certified vocational
and work experience may also be acknowledged in the form of credits calculated in order to obtain
an official qualification, provided the experience is related to the skills of each specific qualification”.
This provision is based on one of the main pillars of the European education area: “lifelong learning”. It entails a major effort when it comes to the curricular design of the syllabus, the analysis of
skills that can be validated, methods for assessing those skills and so on.
On account of its international calling and its ability to spearhead innovative projects, UPF strives to
become a benchmark institution in combining the academic and labour-related worlds. To achieve
this, in seeking to become a campus of international excellence, the university is planning to examine
this provision in practice and, in conjunction with the centres, to prepare a protocol that will make
it possible to implement the changes brought about by the Royal Decree in an efficient manner.
1. mission
Increasing the university’s appeal to people from the business world, allowing them to validate their
professional skills for credits in official university undergraduate and postgraduate syllabi.
2. goal
Developing the necessary protocol to ensure work experience can receive recognition in all UPF
syllabi in conjunction with the centres after studying the scope of the project and the methodology
needed.
3. actions
• Defining the skills to be assessed in each syllabus
• Offering subjects/credits that are likely to be validated due to them matching the skills obtained
through work experience
• Defining methods for assessing these skills
• Implementing the project
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4 indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
Study and design of
a protocol for action
x
Implementation of the
project
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
x
a13: BimoDal teacHing coopeRation pRojects on inteRUniveRsity UnDeRgRaDUate
anD postgRaDUate pRogRammes (UpF-Uoc)
0. introduction
The Open University of Catalonia and Pompeu Fabra University have considered joining forces to
gradually increase the programmes offered in a bimodal manner, thereby making the most of each
university’s strengths and fostering greater efficiency of resources. The experience built up from the
interuniversity master’s degree in Teaching of Compulsory Secondary Education and Baccalaureate,
Professional Training and the Teaching of Languages offered by the two universities as of the 20092010 academic year constitutes a major first step to consolidating this project.
1. mission
Consolidating a range of joint university (undergraduate and postgraduate) degrees based on a bimodal format that can be adapted to suit various groups of students and meet their needs.
The bimodal educational model is flexible and allows for a combination of traditional educational
activities (master classes, internships, tutorials) to be conducted with the possibilities provided by
information and communication technologies (face-to-face classes/interactive classrooms, videos,
virtual classrooms, etc.). Beyond the traditional distinction of face-to-face programmes, blended
learning and virtual studies, these activities make it possible to improve the quality of teaching and
learning and, first and foremost, to meet the needs of various groups of students.
2. goals
The general goal of this action is to consolidate a range of joint university – undergraduate and
postgraduate – degrees in a bimodal format. The studies offered will be defined in the next five
years and will at least involve:
• Consolidating the UPF-UOC interuniversity master’s degree in Teaching of Compulsory
Secondary Education and Baccalaureate, Professional Training and the Teaching of Languages,
which was launched in the 2009-2010 academic year.
• A joint UPF-UOC bachelor’s degree in Criminology based on the bachelor’s degree in Criminology and Public Prevention Policies taught face-to-face by UPF and the bachelor’s degree in
Criminology to be offered by UOC as of the 2010-2011 academic year in a virtual environment
(envisaged for the 2011-2012 academic year). A preliminary agreement has been signed with the
Catalan Public Security Institute in order to extend this bachelor’s degree – with an ad hoc speciality – to the ISPC’s own group, linked to a scholarship programme offered by the institute.
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• Preparation of a new joint UPF-UOC bachelor’s degree programme.
• Preparation of a new joint UPF-UOC postgraduate programme.
3. actions
• Setting up a UPF-UOC working group to examine the studies offered by both universities in
order to assess which programmes offer the most suitable synergies to be re-conceived in terms of
bimodality.
• Preparing a protocol for action on models and strategies that will form the basis for implementing the UPF-UOC bimodal programmes to be offered.
• Preparing the syllabus for a joint UPF-UOC bachelor’s degree in Criminology (or altering the
current syllabus, if applicable), for it to be checked by the Universities Board.
• Designing, preparing and providing the learning resources needed for the bimodal scheme and
the launch of the joint UPF-UOC bachelor’s degree in Criminology.
• Preparing a report for a new joint bachelor’s degree and processing it for the course to be offered
for the first time during the 2012-2013 academic year.
• Designing, preparing and providing the learning resources needed for the bimodal scheme and
the launch of the new joint bachelor’s degree.
• Preparing the report for a new joint interuniversity master’s degree for the programme to be offered for the first time during the 2012-2013 academic year.
• Designing, preparing and providing the learning resources needed for the bimodal scheme and
the launch of the new interuniversity master’s degree.
4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
Set up of working groups/strategy preparation groups
x
Preparation of a protocol on
bimodality
x
Syllabus report for the joint
studies in Criminology: design
and preparation
x
2011-2012
Launch of the bachelor’s degree
in Criminology
x
Syllabus report for the new
bachelor’s degree: design and
preparation
x
2012-2013
Launch of the new bachelor’s
degree
x
Syllabus report for the new
master’s degree: design and
preparation
x
Launch of the new master’s
degree
2013-2014
x
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B
scientiFic impRovement
anD KnoWleDge tRansFeR
i. starting point and current strengths
0. introduction
Developing research to progress in terms of knowledge transfer
UpF adopts a comprehensive, excellent quality teaching model based on research that is:
• comprehensively structured around the three fundamental fields of knowledge (social sciences
and humanities, communication and information technologies and biomedicine).
• Acknowledged as leading research in key international rankings.
This is because, ever since its inception, as a non-generalist university UpF has been highly committed to research and international outreach, enabling the university to:
• Achieve and consolidate a distinguished project.
• Promote research on the frontier of knowledge in its three fields.
• Foster the transfer of scientific results to companies working in sectors relating to its three
fields of knowledge.
In this respect, research and knowledge transfer take on a major role that is set out in the two strategic goals of UPF’s strategy at an institutional level:
Knowledge creation (research): establishing the university as a research institution with a mission
of achieving international excellence to enable it to attract and retain talent and reaffirm its current
position by improving research infrastructure.
Goal 1. UPF25 YEARS Strategy
Knowledge transfer: planning and developing teaching and research to promote knowledge and
encourage innovation in society in conjunction with the players from the social and business world
that are linked to the university.
Goal 2. UPF25 YEARS Strategy
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Accordingly, in light of the demands stemming from the new global outlook, UpF has defined a
strategy looking ahead to 2015 to foster research and knowledge transfer having international
outreach enabling the institution to shape itself as:
• a focal point for the creation, transmission and transfer of knowledge
• a magnet for talent in southern europe
1. organisation of research
When it comes to research, UPF is organised into a network structure which counts on the participation of eight departments, three university research institutes and several mixed research
centres, in which UPF plays a major role and all of these centres and departments form part of the
university’s strategic associates.
Indeed, one of the distinguishing characteristics of UPF is the commitment the university has made
since being founded to comprise a limited number of departments of significant proportions.
This organisation encourages contact between the departments and, by extension, fosters interdisciplinary research.
A policy of restriction has also been applied for the establishment of institutes. They are only set up
when the structure of the respective department is insufficient, in order to conduct specific research,
or when a research team has such a prominent standing that it is necessary to individually identify
research groups. It is necessary to point out that the departments and institutes have organised research in a coherent manner, defining their respective goals in terms of disciplines and taking part on
the selection of research staff. This has enabled the university to grow in terms of academic quality,
establishing research teams of excellence in the respective fields.
Departments
• Economics and Business
• Law
• Political and Social Sciences
• Humanities
• Experimental and Health Sciences
• Information and Communications Technologies
• Communication
• Translation and Language Sciences
University research institutes
• University Institute of Culture (IUC)
• Jaume Vicens i Vives University Institute of History (IUHJVV)
• University Institute for Applied Linguistics (IULA)
Lastly, UPF also holds a stake in several institutions having their own legal status, aimed at promoting research and knowledge transfer in several scientific fields. These institutions enable UPF to
be a prominent player in highly specialised fields of research, often in cooperation with other institutions and universities, allowing its teaching and research staff to conduct their activities in first-rate
conditions and facilities.
According to areas of knowledge, the main institutions are detailed below:
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Biomedical field
• Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB)
• Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM)
• Mar Health Park (formerly IMAS – Hospital del Mar)
• Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
• Centre for Environmental Epidemiology Research (CREAL)
• Barcelona Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CMRB)
• Evolutionary Biology Institute (IBE) (CSIC-UPF)
• High Technology Institute – CRC
• Pasqual Maragall – BarcelonaBeta foundation
social sciences and humanities field
• Research Centre for International Economics (CREI)
• Research Centre for Mediterranean Economies (CREMed)
• Institute for Territorial Studies (IET)
• Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE)
• Barcelona Institute for International Studies (IBEI)
communication and information technologies field
• Barcelona Media – Innovation Centre
2. scientific and technological parks
In order to foster knowledge transfer and lend greater prominence to the university’s research on the
international stage, UPF has ventured for an institutional strategy the structure of which is based on
the set-up of three scientific parks in the university’s own research fields.
Indeed, the establishment of one of these parks – the Social Sciences and Humanities-UPF Research
Park – is one of the foremost actions (B1) in this project.
2.1 UpF - social sciences and Humanities Research park
Description
This park was set up in 2007 with the mission of becoming the backbone for research and knowledge transfer in the field of social sciences and humanities.
The implementation of this park is defined in the UPF25 YEARS Strategy and the promotion
and development of the park is one of the foremost actions set out in the icària international
project.
The park will be implemented in two stages:
• icària i (2007 – 2012), which will give rise to three interconnected buildings for projects in the
fields of social sciences and humanities. The first of these three buildings is currently fully operational at the park.
• icària ii (2012 – 2016)
All information concerning this project can be found in action B1. However, it is worth summarizing that the park already houses the following institutions:
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institutions hosted
pompeu Fabra University
• Departments: Economics and Business; Law; Political and Social Sciences; Humanities.
• Institutes: Jaume Vicens i Vives Institute of History (IUHJVV); University Institute of Culture (IUC)
mixed research centres and institutes
• Research Centre for International Economics (CREI)
• Research Centre for Economics and Health (CRES)
• Research Centre for Mediterranean Economies (CREMed)
• Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE)
institutions that will be transferred to the park
mixed research centres and institutes
• Institute for Territorial Studies (IET)
• Evolutionary Biology Institute (IBE) (CSIC-UPF)
• Spanish Foundation for Applied Economics (FEDEA)
• Experimental Economics Laboratory (Leex)
• Applied Economics Institute
Research centre for international economics (cRei)
The CREI is a research institute funded by the Government of Catalonia and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). Directed by Jordi Galí, this centre seeks to establish itself as a high level research institution, fully integrated into the network of leading centres worldwide in its field of specialisation.
The centre benefits from the work of prominent researchers whose standing can be certified by the
two starting grants and the two advanced grants obtained from the ERC thus far (as of July 2010).
The main research lines include macroeconomics (growth, economic cycles, monetary economics,
macroeconometrics) and international economics (trade, international finance) under the umbrella
of a theoretical and empirical approach.
The centre aims to become a benchmark for generating new knowledge having an internationally
recognised impact both in academic terms and with regard to the design of economic policy, when
relevant, thanks to the endeavours of its researchers. Generally speaking, this new knowledge results
in articles published in specialised journals. In addition, the CREI helps to foster quality economic
research in Catalonia, to promote ties with the international scientific community and to strengthen
the image of Catalonia as a catalyst for the knowledge society.
2.2 Barcelona Biomedical Research park (pRBB)
Description
A joint initiative of the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council and UPF led to the
launch in May 2006 of this park in order to become one of the largest cores for biomedical research
in Southern Europe.
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Research is conducted at this park on the frontier of knowledge in the fields of biomedicine and
health sciences, ensuring that the results of its findings can be conveyed to industry and businesses
in the sector. It currently hosts more than 1,200 researchers from 50 countries and more than 100
research groups with prominent international researchers (30% from abroad) who conduct cuttingedge research and publish their findings in some of the foremost international scientific journals
(with more than 600 scientific articles having been published in international journals).
Moreover, it is worth highlighting the fact that the PRBB is also part of several strategic initiatives in
the pharmaceutical and biotechnical fields:
• It is one of the key institutes fostering the Catalan bioregion (BioCAT).
• It is a founding partner of the Barcelona Biomedical alliance (aBB) in conjunction with Barcelona Science Park and the IDIBAPS, linked to the University of Barcelona.
• It spearheads the spanish technological platform innovative medication.
institutions hosted
pompeu Fabra University
• Department of Experimental and Health Sciences (DCEXS)
• Scientific technical services: genomics service; proteomics service; peptide synthesis service; flow
cytometry service; confocal microscopy service
mixed research centres and institutes
• Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM)
• Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
• Barcelona Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CMRB)
• Hospital del Mar Health Research Institute
• High Technology Institute (IAT)
• Centre for Environmental Epidemiology Research (CREAL)
• Occupational Health Research Centre (CISAL)
Spin-offs
• q-Genomics, SL
• Chemotargets, SL
centre for genomic Regulation (cRg)
The CRG is an innovative basic research centre that was set up in December 2000 by the Government of Catalonia, based on a non-civil servant model for organising research. It strives to become
an international benchmark for basic biomedical research, especially in the fields of proteomics and
genomic regulation.
The excellent findings attributed to the centre make it a major player on the world stage, with the
potential to radically transform the current outlook in terms of biomedical research. Testimony to
this fact lies in the three starting grants and the advanced grant that have been awarded by the
eRc to date (July 2010).
The CRG comprises researchers (group leaders) recruited from all over the world who are assessed
regularly by an external Scientific Advisory Board composed of 12 leading experts in various fields
from all over the world. This ensures the mobility and renewal of the staff. The mobility and internationalisation criteria governing the CRG are the same as those governing the EMBL, an institute with
which it cooperates thanks to an international agreement sponsored by MICINN. This has enabled
both centres to work together in developing a greater understanding of complex biological systems.
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2.3 Barcelona media Research park (pBm)
Description
Launched in February 2009, this is a joint initiative by the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona
City Council (through the 22@Barcelona municipal corporation), Pompeu Fabra University and
companies in the media industry. It offers a comprehensive service in all areas of the media industry
ranging from content to technology.
The PBM is an urban setting that is open to the public. It combines modern technological areas with offices, research and innovation, university education (IDEC/UPF, IL3/UB, FUPC and
UOC), media company formation services and residence areas for entrepreneurs, students and
lecturers involved in the communications industry. It also houses major infrastructure, such as
the Centre for Audiovisual Production (CPA) and the Resource Centre for Learning and Research
(CRAI / UPF).
institutions hosted
pompeu Fabra University
• Departments: Information and Communication Technologies; Communication and Translation
and Language Sciences
• University Institute for Applied Linguistics (IULA)
technological centres
• Barcelona Media – Innovation Centre
• Barcelona Digital
companies and institutions
• The media: MEDIAPRO, LAVINIA, Cromosoma, RBA, RNE, CAC, BTV, TIC-Media centre
• IT: T-SYSTEMS, INDRA, Orange, the CMT, among others.
Spin-offs
• Barcelona Music & Audiovisual Technologies (BMAT)
• Reactable Systems
Barcelona media – innovation centre
The centre was set up in order to improve the competitiveness of companies in the audiovisual and
communication fields with respect to technology and content.
It is the first Spanish technological centre to offer a comprehensive service for all areas of the media
industry, making it an international standard in the field of communications (for instance, it hosts
the Yahoo research centre in Europe, one of its latest achievements in its network of international
relations). The centre has reached these goals because it also benefits from contributions from educational institutions (the Open University of Catalonia, La Salle) and private companies spearheading
the sector (Alcatel, Anima Graphics, Fairplay Films, Grup Godó, Indra, Lavinia, Mediaplanning
Group, Telefónica, T-Systems and TVC Multimedia).
Lastly, it is also worth underlining that the centre was a major player in the set-up of the Barcelona
media association of innovative companies cluster, the scope of which will be expanded in order
to allow production companies to enhance dealings with the respective institutions enabling them to
improve their competitiveness.
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3. talent attraction
Ever since it was established UPF has stood out thanks to a policy for recruiting teaching and research staff with a prominent research profile and international experience. In areas where the quality
of teaching has already been well-established – but regular scientific output has not – endeavours
have been made to promote the recruitment of teaching and research staff with major research potential or with a solid track record and experience in research on an international level.
By hiring researchers with proven excellence, the university seeks to strengthen the research groups’
strategic areas, fostering the internationalisation of UPF’s research. The talent attraction policy
adopted has also been boosted thanks to national and international programmes:
Noteworthy aspects on a national scale include the Ramón y Cajal, ICREA and ICREA-Academia
programmes. Between 2001 and 2009 UPF was awarded 83 contracts within the Ramón y Cajal call
and it incorporated 31 ICREA researchers into its team. Moreover, the university received 21.4% of
all grants awarded in the first two ICREA Academia calls (15 of the 70 places on offer), a fact which
lays testimony to the university’s research quality.
Noteworthy aspects on an international scale include the success of researchers linked to UPF in
the IDEAS programme under both schemes, arranged by the European Research Council (ERC)
accounting for 21% of starting grants and 31% of advanced grants awarded to Spain (in the first
edition). The second edition of the starting grants (decided in September 2009) resulted in awards
for two CREI researchers – the CREI being one of UPF’s strategic associates – accounting for 17%
of the awards granted to Spain. Also worth mentioning is the grant awarded through the EURYI
(European Young Investigator) programme to a UPF biomedicine researcher.
Moreover, UPF is actively involved in the People programme within the seventh framework programme, which allocates more than 1.6 million euros for eleven initiatives for attracting, training
and fostering the pre- and post-doctoral mobility of researchers. Specifically, the international training networks (ITN) in which UPF participates (3) account for half this budget. These networks are
the ideal instrument for promoting UPF internationally to appeal to prominent young researchers
who have achieved outstanding careers.
Table X. Incorporation of staff according to programme and field of knowledge (June 2010)
Staff incorporation
Communication and
information technologies
Social Sciences and
Humanities
Life Sciences
Ramón y Cajal
27
34
22
ICREA
11
17
3
ICREA Academia
5
6
4
Starting grants
0
4
3
Advanced grants
0
4
1
EURYI
0
0
1
Total
43
65
34
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4. internationalisation of research
One of the key features of UPF – and indeed of the institutions’ strategic associates – is that it has
taken part in the European Union Framework Programme thanks to the exceptional level of its
researchers and the university’s high degree of internationalisation.
According to the report prepared by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology
(CDTI) “Analysis and results of Spain’s participation in the 6th Framework Programme”, despite its
relative size within the system, UPF held seventh place among all Spanish institutions with a total of
49 proposals being approved, 7 of which would be coordinated by UPF.
UpF’s results
The positive results achieved in the 6th Framework Programme are undoubtedly being improved
on for the 7th Framework Programme. Indeed, by June 2010 a total of 24 cooperation projects had
been secured, 6 of which would be coordinated by the university; 4 in the Ideas programme, 11 in
the People programme and 5 in the Capacities programme.
The following table shows the results obtained by UPF in the various programmes:
Table XI. 7th Framework Programme. UPF’s results according to programmes and themes (June 2010)
Number of projects
(coordinated by UPF)
Results(€)
6
2,507,000
16 (6)
8,373,000
2
243,000
24 (6)
11.123.000
Ideas
4
5,560,000
People
11
1,623,000
Research infrastructures
SMEs/Regions
Science in society
2
73,000
1
220,000
2
616,000
Sub-total
5
909,000
44
19,215,000
Programmes
Themes
Cooperation
Health
Information and communication technologies
Socio-economic
sciences and humanities
Sub-total
Capacities
Total
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Results in relation to associates
As far as the institutions that constitute UPF’s strategic associates are concerned, the results have also
been noteworthy:
cooperation programme
As a result of participation in the cooperation programme, 31% of proposals are spearheaded by
researchers pertaining to UPF or its affiliates.
Table XII. 7th Framework Programme (Cooperation programme). Results attributable to strategic
Institutions
Number of projects
Projects as coordinator
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)
24
6
Centre for Genomic Regulation
(CRG)
17
7
Barcelona Media Technological
Centre
14
6
Municipal Institute for Medical
Research (IMIM)
5
0
Total
60
19
ideas programme
Participation in the Ideas programme, organised by the European Research Council (ERC), has been
especially prominent with a total of 12 grants having been awarded in this area to date:
Table XIII. 7th Framework Programme (Ideas programme). Results attributable to strategic associates (June 2010)
Institutions
Starting grants
Advanced grants
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)
2
2
Centre for Genomic Regulation
(CRG)
3
1
Research Centre for International
Economics
2
2
Total
7
5
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capacities programme
The university and a number of its strategic associates have been involved in setting up three
research infrastructures with the support of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (Roadmap 2008):
• CLARIN: research infrastructure aimed at making language technologies and resources
available to scholars in all fields.
• European Social Survey: research infrastructure aimed at monitoring trends in social values
in the long-term.
• EuroBioImaging: research infrastructure aimed at applying imaging technologies
to biological and biomedical sciences.
participation in joint technological initiatives (jtis)
UPF and its strategic associates are active members of IMI (Innovative Medicines Initiative) one of
the few JTIs launched Europe-wide.
IMI is a public/private partnership (PPP) between the European Union, the European Commission
and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). Its goal is to
overcome research hurdles identified in the process for developing medicines and to improve their
efficiency and effectiveness to enable the pharmaceutical industry to produce safer, innovative and
better drugs. We are a prominent member on the small scientific committee.
income obtained
Lastly, it is worth mentioning that according to the report “Provisional results of Spain’s participation in the 7th Framework Programme (2007-2009)” (CDTI, April 2010), five of UPF’s strategic
associates were among the top 20 Spanish institutions in terms of income obtained:
pompeu Fabra University: 10th position among all institutions and 6th position among Spanish
universities with 24 projects (6 as coordinator).
centre for genomic Regulation (cRg): 13th position among all institutions and 1st position
among all other institutions with 17 projects (7 as coordinator).
Barcelona media technological centre: 17th position among all institutions and 2nd position
among innovation centres with 14 projects (6 as coordinator).
Research centre for international economics (cRei): 9th position among all research centres
with 3 projects approved (3 as coordinator).
municipal institute of medical Research: 10th position among all other institutions with 5
projects approved.
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5. Funding for research
UPF has witnessed substantial growth in terms of funding secured through competitive bids and
contracts with companies during the last four years (2006-2009). Specifically, overall growth for
2009 compared to 2006 (according to the table below) stands at 78.7%, in other words, 16%
year-on-year growth. Moreover, in terms of the activity funded, both projects in competitive bids
(104%) and research activities (148%) have witnessed the greatest levels of growth.
It is also worth noting that an exponential leap took place in 2009 compared to 2008 where growth
stood at 42.6%.
Table XIV. Funding for research (June 2010)
2006
2007
2008
2009
Projects in competitive bids
11,753,633
16,730,465
17,495,107
24,035,432
Mobility
2,604,625
2,493,200
2,638,547
2,404,459
Infrastructure
0
253,350
330,038
0
Contracts with companies
6,956,370
10,316,688
8,571,202
10,713,243
Scholarships
2,236,880
2,463,024
2,295,132
2,936,892
Research activities
+ other grants5
2,892,800
3,157,372
1,793,974
7,163,966
Total
26.444.307
35.414.099
33.124.000
47.253.992
Growth 2009 vs. 2006
79%
Growth 2009 vs. 2008
43%
5. Research activities and others: conferences (organisation/participation), courses, themed networks, education networks, integrated/state-subsidised actions, access to research infrastructure, support to research groups, awards, publishing of results, etc.
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6. R&D&i training
The UPF continuing education institute (idec) is developing a Science Management Programme in
order to train professionals who may then be charged with administrating R&D units in public and private centres. These professionals may become the driving forces behind the research, development, innovation and knowledge and technology transfer policies for the 21st century. The programme incorporates:
• The master’s degree in Management in Science and Innovation.
• The postgraduate programme in the Management of the Business Aspects of Science and Technology.
• The master’s degree in Intellectual Property Law.
In addition to the above programmes, it is worth mentioning the Master in the Economics of Science and Innovation, taught at the Barcelona graduate school of economics (Barcelona GSE).
Lastly, in order to promote relations between the park and leading experts in biotechnology and to
draw international postgraduate students in the sector to Barcelona, as well as with the aim of training its users in areas such as professional development, management and teamwork, the following
science and technology management and training actions are being carried out at the pRBB:
• Science and Innovation Management Studies (SIMS). The aim is to foster a world framework for
quality in Barcelona in order to set up a centre for learning and knowledge in enterprising initiative and innovation for emerging technologies, focussing on biotechnology.
• PRBB Intervals Programme. This is a supplementary training programme aimed at encouraging
best practices in the various fields in the scientific community.
7. support to research and knowledge transfer
The university has arranged a host of services for supporting and promoting research and transfer,
including the following:
• The Research Service: 1) providing support to the university’s strategic projects and scientific
policy; and 2) promoting and encouraging the participation of teaching and research staff in
research projects.
• The Projects Office, which is acknowledged by the Ministry of Science and Innovation through
the Eurociencia programme (2006 and 2008 calls), offering strategic funds to university bodies
that boost Spain’s involvement in the 7th Framework Programme.
• The Innovation and Research Parks Unit that is one of the many units that helped prepare the
Strategic Transfer Plan 2009-2012 (which received a positive assessment in the call of the Subprogramme for Support to Transfer OTRI).
At the same time, and on the context of the 4 Universities Alliance (A4U)6, the following have
been set up:
• The Office for the Promotion of European Research Activities (OPERA), based in Brussels, in
order to support European research activities conducted by the four universities in the alliance and to increase the number of projects submitted as part of European research promotion
programmes. The office works in conjunction with the UPF Projects Office which channels and
fosters the key actions7.
• The Office for the Assessment and Marketing of Research Results, whose aim is to boost critical
mass and provide a forum for the exchange of experiences and procedures to foster the marketing
of the research results of the four universities. Currently a virtual forum, the office is formed by
experts in transfer from the four universities. It currently has two envisaged courses of action for
the period between 2010 and 2011: the assessment and marketing of R&D&I results, and the
assessment of research results in social sciences and humanities.
6. The A4U is one of the strategic associates of this project. For an in-depth description of the alliance and other initiatives
aimed at promoting research and knowledge transfer, see section E) Associates.
7. See action B5.
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Lastly, another aspect worth highlighting is the involvement, on the part of the university and other
institutions among its strategic associates, in developing three infrastructures for research under the
auspices of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (Roadmap 2008):
• CLARIN: research infrastructure aimed at making language technologies and resources available
to scholars in all disciplines.
• European Social Survey: research infrastructure set-up in 2001 aimed at monitoring changes in
social values on a long-term basis.
• EuroBioImaging: research infrastructure aimed at applying imaging technologies to biomedical
and biological sciences.
8. Rankings
• First Spanish university in the SCimago Institutions Rankings (SIR World Report 2009) for
cites per document, international collaboration and field normalised citation score. The three
quality indicators of UPF’s scientific production are within the top 10% percent of higher education institutions in the world from a total of 1513.
• First position in the Ranking of Spanish Universities owing to Research Quality. SCimago Ranking (2003-2007).
• First position in the 2009 ranking on research productivity at Spanish State universities (Gualberto Buela-Casal/University of Granada, 2010, Psicothema, vol. 22, issue no. 2, pp. 171-179).
• First university in Ibero-America and Spain for average scientific quality and international collaboration (Ibero-American Ranking SIR 2010):
• First university in Ibero-America and Spain for social sciences in terms of international collaboration, average scientific quality and percentage of publications in journals listed in the first
quartile of the most influential journals in the world (Ibero-American Ranking SIR 2010).
• First university in Ibero-America and Spain for health sciences in terms of average scientific
quality and percentage of publications in journals listed in the first quartile of the most influential journals in the world. In terms of international collaboration, UPF is the top Spanish
university and the fifth in Ibero-America (Ibero-American Ranking SIR 2010).
• First university in Ibero-America and Spain for life sciences in terms of percentage of publications in journals listed in the first quartile of the most influential journals in the world and the
top university in Spain (and sixth in Ibero-America) for international collaboration. With regard
to average scientific quality, UPF is the second university in Spain and in Ibero-America (IberoAmerican Ranking SIR 2010).
• First Spanish university, seventh in Europe and thirty-fifth worldwide for research in economics according to the research ranking prepared by the University of Tilburg (2009) in a database
compiling articles published in the 68 foremost journals in the fields of econometrics, economics, statistics and finance for the period between 2004 and 2008.
• Third position among Spanish universities in the ARWU ranking of the University of Shanghai
with regard to the number of publications in the journals Nature and Science (ARWU, 2010).
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9. indicators of scientific improvement and knowledge transfer
Table XV. Indicators of scientific improvement and knowledge transfer (2010-2015)
Ref.
Indicator
Academic year
2009/2010
Target for
2015
2.1
Number of indexed
publications
496
600
2.2
Number of indexed publications in the first quartile
16.2%
20%
2.3
Number of officially approved research programmes
671
850
2.4
Number of European
projects awarded (7th FP
accumulated)
24
64
2.5
Number of European projects coordinated (7th FP
accumulated)
6
16
2.6
Number of researchers on
stays abroad
40
60
2.7
Number of researchers from
other institutions
100
140
2.8
Number of pre-doctoral
scholarships
162
200
2.9
Number of spin-offs (accumulated)
3
8
2.10
Number of users of the
scientific and technical
services
623
10% growth
2.11
Number of technological
offers disseminated
20
40
2.12
Number of transfer agreements and licences
8
16
2.13
Number of contracts with
companies and institutions
100
200
1.14
Income from licences
€120,000
€400,000
2.15
Number of registered
patents
6
10
2.16
Number of service requests
89,814
10% growth
2.17
Number of leaders trained
20
36
2.18
Number of investee companies
3
6
2.19
Number of companies
situated on the campus
15028
-9
8. Geographically speaking, the Icària International project is based at 22@, the new innovation district where more than 1500 companies have been set up since 2000 according to the study “22@Barcelona: 10 years of growth” prepared by Barcelona City Council
and 22@Barcelona (April 2010) with data from December 2009. According to the study “22@Barcelona: 10 years of growth” prepared
by Barcelona City Council and 22@Barcelona (April 2010), during the first three years 489 companies were set up, between 2004 and
2006 more than 550 were set up and between 2007 and 2009, the period affected by the economic downturn, the figure came to 461.
9. According to the same study, during the first three years 489 companies were set up in the vicinity of 22@, between 2004 and
2006 more than 550 were set up and between 2007 and 2009, the period affected by the economic downturn, the figure came to
461. Nonetheless, as of July 2010, no information is available regarding the forecast looking ahead to 2015.
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ii. actions
0. introduction
This section details six actions aimed at fostering and showcasing the research activities conducted on
the Icària International project. Four of these actions will be jointly implemented with the university’s associates in the project (one with the UOC and three as part of the A4U):
•
•
•
•
•
•
B1: UPF–Social Sciences and Humanities Research Park
B2: Set-up of a UPF-UOC interuniversity centre for research on moral and political theory
B3: Talent attraction and transnational mobility project
B4: Mobility programme for young PhD holders as part of the A4U
B5: European A4U Office in Brussels (OPERA)
B6: Strategic knowledge transfer plan
B1: UpF–social sciences anD HUmanities
ReseaRcH paRK
0. introduction
UPF has three research parks, two of which are fully established – Barcelona Biomedical Research
Park and Barcelona Media Park – with another in the initial stages of development – UPF–Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Park – all of which form part of this action.
The strategic commitment to the development and consolidation of this technological and scientific
park has been based on its research potential, its possibilities for expansion and its high international
profile. Testimony to this is the fact that UPF is the top Spanish university in social sciences according to the prominent Times Higher Education Supplement (2009) and it holds position number 62
in the world. Its researchers in the field of social sciences and humanities were awarded 4 starting
grants and 3 advanced grants in the first two ERC calls.
1. mission
Promoting social commitment with an emphasis on research, innovation, knowledge transfer and
scientific progress to become a social and economic driving force for relations between the university,
public authorities and companies.
This mission is achieved thanks to the following strategic actions:
• The promotion of excellence in research in line with the social and economic needs of the setting.
• The promotion of cooperation among the various agents in the research and innovation system:
public authorities, companies, universities, research centres and intermediary bodies.
• The boosting of the critical research mass by incorporating new institutions in the park and appealing to researchers with acknowledged prestige and excellence.
• A striking environment and an excellent level of service provided to institutions seeking to set up
business in the park.
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2. goal
Establishing itself as a benchmark for research and knowledge transfer in the fields of social sciences and humanities, bringing together university research groups, internationally renowned mixed
centres and prestigious institutions to become a leading centre for social sciences and humanities in
southern Europe.
3. actions
The action involves developing and consolidating the park to provide a significant critical mass with
a common physical environment with the following aims:
• To make it easier for researchers from the university community and various specialties to work
together, conduct interdisciplinary projects and achieve greater competitiveness internationally.
• To serve as the seat for centres for excellence in Research hosting research groups with a calling for internationalisation and multidisciplinary activities. This will help to train a major critical
research mass whilst encouraging participation in theme-based networks in line with the model
for excellence in centres applied in Scandinavian countries. Such centres tend to secure their
resources (premises and services) through competitive bids having limited timeframes, though
they can apply for renewal depending on their results, one of the many mechanisms compelling
researchers to adopt a proactive approach in presenting innovative projects.
• To house multi-purpose facilities for conducting unique projects, such as the new groups and
centres stemming from the starting grants and advanced grants awarded by the European Research Council who embarked on their activities throughout 2009.
• To promote the set-up of an open Research center for the development of specific programmes
fostering certain fields of interdisciplinary research and new lines of applied scientific research in
social fields, encouraging interdisciplinary debates or setting groups to explore potential areas. It
will also be necessary to consider whether the centre can draw in researchers from other national
and international universities in order to conduct specific projects.
• To arrange areas for institutional and/or business initiatives in the fields of social sciences
and humanities, making the most of synergies and proximity to a university campus having
acknowledged international prestige, and likewise for multidisciplinary scientific projects linking
the fields of social sciences and humanities, biomedicine and communication and information
technologies.
• To establish itself as a forum for social debate and an opportunity to bridge the gap between
research and the public. In the case of a social science park, business incubators, as they are simply
known in other fields of knowledge, become forums for creativity and the hatching of ideas, leading to the preparation of public policies and decision-making in the economic and social spheres.
Furthermore, the establishment of the park is divided into two distinct stages and this particular
action (B1) only relates to the first.
• First stage
• Expected completion date: 2012
• Total surface area: 16,065 sq. m.
• Second stage
• Expected completion date: 2016
• Total surface area: 15,000 sq. m.
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On completion of the first, three interconnected buildings will be constructed which will form part
of a scientific action unit, inasmuch as there will be dealings taking place between the transfer and
research groups.
The first research building, Wellington 1, with a total area of 3550 sq. m., has been operational since
July 2008 and it already houses centres of acknowledged international prestige.
•
•
•
•
Research Centre for International Economics (CREI)
Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE)
Economy and Health Research Centre (CRES)
Center for Research on the Economies of the Mediterranean (CREMed)
With this action, this first stage will be completed thanks to the construction of the two remaining
buildings (with a total surface area of 12,515 sq. m.).
Some of the institutions and initiatives that are expected to be hosted at the park (during the first
and second stages) are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Institute for Territorial Studies (IET)
Barcelona Institute for International Studies (IBEI)
Evolutionary Biology Institute (IBE) (CSIC-UPF)
Experimental Economics Laboratory (Leex)
Spanish Foundation for Applied Economics (FEDEA)
Applied Economics Institute
Centre for Research on Life Course Dynamics
Research and Expertise Centre for Survey Methodology (RECSM)
Brain and Cognition Research Centre
Regulatory Impact Analysis Centre
State Building Process in Latin America
4. centres and initiatives to be located at the park
Firstly, it is necessary to highlight the fact that the existence of centres dealing with varying disciplines in the same setting makes it possible to address socially significant topics, such as the design
of policies on dependency, equality, education, the labour market, immigration and health, from a
variety of standpoints. The research lines stemming from this synergy will provide a greater understanding of social mechanisms and, accordingly, they will act as a guide for the implementation of
public policies and decision-making in economic and social terms.
All the centres and initiatives to be housed at the park will benefit from internationally renowned
researchers working on the frontier of knowledge on specific lines of applied research.
Below is a description of the centres and initiatives that have been set up at the park or are expected
to be housed there in the future.
4.1 institutions currently housed at the park
The UPF–Social Sciences and Humanities Research Park, promoted by Pompeu Fabra University, already benefits from the support of scientific institutions having acknowledged international prestige
and the following are already operating at the park:
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Research centre for international economics (cRei)
• Directed by Jordi Galí, one of the most cited economists, this centre seeks to establish itself as a
high level research institution, fully integrated into the network of leading centres worldwide in
its field of specialisation.
• Main research lines: macroeconomics (growth, economic cycles, monetary economics, macroeconometrics) and international economics (trade, international finance) under the umbrella of
a theoretical and empirical approach.
• Strategic goals:
• To attain excellence in scientific output: the research conducted by the centre must generate new knowledge having an internationally recognized impact both in academic terms and
with regard to the design of economic policy, when relevant. Generally speaking, this new
knowledge results in articles published in specialised journals.
• To foster quality economic research in Catalonia.
• To promote ties with the international scientific community and to strengthen the image of
Catalonia as a catalyst for the knowledge society.
Barcelona graduate school of economics (Barcelona gse)
• An institution fostering scientific cooperation among the UPF Department of Economics and
Business, the UAB Unit of Economic Analysis, the CSIC Economic Analysis Institute and the
Research Centre for International Economics (CREI). The school is promoted and chaired by
Andreu Mas-Colell, upon whom it is incumbent to boost scientific activities without replacing
the four groups comprising the school.
• In the coming years, Barcelona GSE seeks to establish itself as the foremost non-Anglo-Saxon
academic body in the world in terms of economics by blending three vital elements: critical
mass, internationality, and depth and impact in terms of excellence in research.
• Main achievements:
• Ranking for scientific production: holds a position between the second and third place in the
European ranking of economics departments (Journal of the European Economic Association,
May 2007).
• Excellence in research that addresses practically all sub-disciplines within the field of economics. The researchers associated with Barcelona GSE include fellows from the Econometric Society, the European Economic Association and CEPR, to mention just a few of the
scientific societies.
• International community: 145 affiliated professors – from the four participating institutions
– in a highly international community (there are natives of 20 different countries and 64
individuals were born outside Spain. Of all the professors, 63 obtained their PhDs in NorthAmerican universities, 54 in universities in other European countries and 28 in Spanish
universities).
• Internationally competitive range of postgraduate programmes: six master’s degree programmes focussed on the labour market and research in economics, fully taught in English,
for which 80% of students enrolled are foreign nationals.
economy and Health Research centre (cRes)
• Through university research this centre strives to contribute to changing and improving the way
health services are managed and training is given.
• Three basic research lines:
• The health funding system, along with a theoretical and practical analysis of policies for the
effective purchase of health services.
• The retrospective assessment of organisational reforms, as well as a theoretical exploration of new
organisational scope at any of the macro-, meso- and micro-levels of health service management.
• The methodological development of economic assessment as a means of supporting decisionmaking in the health industry.
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• Two research goals:
• To analyse changes in the regulation of national health systems along with the implications
entailed for the financial, organisational and managerial capacity of the system.
• To explore responses to issues such as the mechanisms for incorporating public competence
into health management processes; the introduction of social assurance notions in the national health system; and the application of methods for assessing effectiveness and equality
in health service provision.
centre for Research on the economies of the mediterranean (cRemed)
• Barcelona GSE and the European Institute of the Mediterranean joined forces in late 2008 to
promote knowledge on the situations of Euro-Mediterranean economies and hence set up the
Center for Research on the Economies of the Mediterranean (CREMed). The centre will be
a focal point for research into the economic problems witnessed by Mediterranean countries,
especially in the southern region, with particular emphasis being placed on relations between the
Mediterranean zone and the European Union.
• CREMed’s mission is to spark interest in high level academic circles in order for greater knowledge to be gained and economic activities to be given impetus. This project has a clear European
and international calling in striving to achieve excellence in the academic sphere.
4.2 institutions that will be transferred to the park
UPF’s associates include mixed research centres and institutions that have expressed an interest in
transferring their premises to the park:
institute for territorial studies (iet)
• This institute identifies and resolves problems in terms of territorial planning and seeks to promote research on topics that have remained virtually untouched in this regard. The IET conducts
these activities while fulfilling its mission to support the public authorities in their day-to-day
activities, both with regard to territorial planning in Catalonia and their involvement in international, cross-border projects.
• Lines of action:
• Territorial information: compiling, processing and analysing data of a social, economic,
urban planning, infrastructure-related and environmental nature having a bearing on the
setting, as well as territorial planning in order to establish itself as a benchmark centre of
guidance in this field.
• Territorial planning: defining goals in terms of territorial balance which are useful in order
to directly contribute to work included in the territorial planning programme of the Department of Territorial Planning and Public Works of the Government of Catalonia, as well as
contributing to other institutions with territorial planning authority.
• Territorial strategy: preparing proposals and strategies for reflection on the current situation,
trends and challenges of a territorial nature affecting Catalonia and the larger regions it forms
part of.
• Development of methodologies in topics that have remained virtually untouched:
• The economic assessment of territorial planning and infrastructure.
• The design of infographic tools for analysing territorial problems of a large scale (microfields)
and a smaller scale affecting Catalonia.
• The creation of map bases based on the superposition of hitherto unexplored layers which are
complex to process.
• The study of logistics activities taking place over the land.
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Barcelona institute for international studies (iBei)
• This interuniversity research institute is promoted by the foundation Centre for International Documentation and Information in Barcelona (CIDOB) and it benefits from the participation of several
of the main Catalan universities in the field of social sciences (UPF, UAB, UB, UPC and UOC). It
was set up to promote advanced training and research in politics and international relations.
• The institute seeks to establish itself as a leading centre in the field of postgraduate teaching
in international studies. To do so, it is committed to maintaining its own core academic staff
formed by post-doctoral lecturers and researchers and to hiring visiting professors and other
scholars from various universities.
• Similarly, the IBEI has conducted a joint research programme with the involvement of researchers from the universities and the institute’s own core research staff, largely funded through
competitive Spanish and European programmes (Ramón y Cajal, Juan de la Cierva, Marie Curie,
ICREA, etc.).
• As a postgraduate school, the IBEI offers an interuniversity master’s degree in International
Relations (UPF-UAB-UB) which draws in many international students (65% of students were
foreign and came from 26 different countries during the 2009-2010 academic year).
• It also takes part in the Erasmus Mundus along with the University of York, the Hague Institute
of Social Studies and the Central European University in Budapest.
evolutionary Biology institute (iBe) (csic-UpF)
• A research institute set up by the Scientific Research Council (CSIC) and UPF in 2008 to provide research infrastructure for evolutionary biology in Catalonia.
• It seeks to become an international leader in biodiversity studies and their development, from a
molecular and genomic standpoint, particularly focussing on human diversity.
• It is formed by research groups from the Department of Molecular Biodiversity and Evolution
(DFBM) (formerly attached to Barcelona Molecular Biology Institute [IBMB] of the Higher
Council of Scientific Research) and the Evolutionary Biology Unit (UBE) of the UPF Department of Experimental and Health Sciences. The institute has 17 lead researchers and a scientific,
technical and support team of nigh on 80 people.
• The institute stands out thanks to its ability to approach studies on functional and genome
evolution and studies describing biodiversity from a range of observational scales including
a molecular, biochemical, genomic, physiological, morphological and ethological (cognitive)
standpoint. It promotes the use of its highly sophisticated technologies, especially encouraging
use of major genome sequencing projects.
• It is a pioneer for cooperation with UPF experimental economics groups on a project that looks
into human genetic architecture in socio-economic terms, covering aspects such as risk preferences, altruism and strategic behaviour.
• Research lines:
• Computational and comparative genomics programme.
• Population genetics and genetic epidemiology programme.
• Complex systems programme.
• Functional evolution in insects programme. Animal systematic and phylogeny programme.
experimental economics laboratory (leex)
• Set up in May 1992, it was the first laboratory in Spain and constituted a pioneer in Europe.
It has produced scientific works in experimental economics which have achieved international
renown. It is witnessing a period of expansion in which it is considering broadening the range of
studies conducted thus far in the field of economics in order to encompass works in collaboration with scientists from other fields.
• Specifically, it has embarked on a joint project in conjunction with an evolutionary biology research
group from UPF and the CSIC (IBE), which is being conducted in collaboration also with the
Ernst Ferh laboratory in Zurich and involves researchers in psychology, anthropology and genetics.
The study is a pioneering interdisciplinary initiative in this field and it examines human genetic
architecture in socio-economic terms, such as risk preferences, altruism or strategic behaviour.
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spanish Foundation for applied economics (FeDea)
• This is a research centre whose goal is an applied economic analysis conducted objectively with
independent judgment which seeks to use its research to address the problems facing Spanish
society. Its Board of Trustees is formed by the Bank of Spain and a broad host of major banks
and Spanish companies.
• FEDEA chairs, which fund quality research in applied economics conducted by resident lecturers
in Spanish research centres and universities, have led the foundation to begin cooperation with
lecturers from the UPF Department of Economics.
• In 2009, FEDEA and UPF signed an agreement whereby FEDEA would be able to set up its
first centre outside Madrid, home to the foundation’s headquarters and main region of activity to
date. The location chosen for the centre is Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and it represents FEDEA’s intent to embark on transfer and dissemination activities in Barcelona, whilst
offering resources to support applied research, especially with respect to database processing.
• The FEDEA-UPF cooperation projects include a study on education in Spain for which a group
of researchers in Madrid is working in tandem with a group of researchers in Barcelona in order
to consider various issues and a methodology. Likewise, they are undertaking preparations
for compiling new data from their respective autonomous communities on school results and
student traits in order to work together to provide new perspectives for understanding a problem
that is central to Spain’s society and economy.
applied economics institute
• The goal of this institute is to foster and develop applied research in economics stemming from a
group of lecturers from the Department of Economics and Business examining major problems
in economic policy and issues arising in the preparation of public policies on education, the
labour market, gender equality, dependence, pensions and economic growth.
• Some of these lecturers cooperate very closely with the FEDEA (Spanish Foundation for Applied
Economics) by means of FEDEA chairs which, along with the agreement signed by UPF and
FEDEA, provide them with funding and research assistants.
• In addition to this initiative, professor Antonio Ciccone, director of the institute, recently
obtained the Caixa Manresa chair by means of an agreement with Barcelona GSE, underlining
the applied work of this research group and making it possible to boost the volume of work carried out by the professors involved in terms of volume and nature. Cooperation with professors
from the CREI and the incorporation of Marta Reynal (UPF) thanks to an ERC starting grant
will make it possible to broaden the field of study to encompass issues relating to globalisation,
development and growth. Furthermore, synergies have been established in the use of data and
methodology, as well as common research topics, between the institute and the Centre for Research on Life Course Dynamics, which is also located in Icària I.
• The nature of applied analysis conducted by the institute calls for heightened work involving
the search, processing and analysis of huge databases. One of the institute’s goals is to organise
a structure for supporting quality applied research whilst strengthening the transfer of results by
means of projects in conjunction with public institutions or companies, thereby following in the
footsteps of FEDEA and Caixa Manresa.
4.3 Unique projects and new initiatives
The park will also be home to other transfer and research groups that are currently in the early stages
of development, albeit well-defined:
centre for Research on life course Dynamics
• This centre brings together scientists who conduct research into the dynamics of the course of
life under the leadership of Gosta Esping-Andersen, a sociologist of acknowledged international
academic prestige.
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• The group is producing a survey for Spain – the Spanish Cohort Study – which is similar to the
ones conducted in other European countries to examine how living conditions in early periods of
life affect school results, living conditions and family formation, as well as employment opportunities during adulthood. Given the significance of immigration in recent years and the problems
entailed, the survey seeks to include a greater number of immigrant families in the sample to
analyse the reactions of second generation immigrants with respect to the questions posed to the
population as a whole.
• In cooperation with other European centres and as part of the 7th Framework Programme, a
Spanish version of the Gender and Generations survey is being conducted which will develop
studies on family formation and decisions concerning fertility, aspects that have witnessed major
changes in Southern Europe.
• In tandem with the development of databases, the centre aims to advance in methodological
research on the analysis of longitudinal data and microdata-based assessment.
• The activities carried out by this centre are closely tied to the methodology and goals of the
group of economists at the Applied Economics Institute. Research topics with common elements
include the analysis of employment opportunities, gender discrimination in employment and
glass ceilings on women, as well as the relationship these elements have with traits of early age,
and social, economic and educational factors. There is also potential for interdisciplinary research
on studies looking into school failure, the quality of education and its economic impact, as well
as the problems with the pension system for a population that is living longer whilst witnessing a
greater influx of immigrants.
Research and expertise centre for survey methodology (Recsm)
• The main goal of this centre is to become an international multidisciplinary leader on survey
methodologies.
• The centre plays a key role in the European Social Survey (ESS), which looks into the design of
a useful, rigorous methodological instrument for the comparative study of beliefs, attitudes and
individual conduct of Europeans. The ESS is one of the European Union’s four ESFRI projects,
and is the foremost comparative survey project in the world, certified by the Descartes Award for
Science granted in 2005.
• Methodological research: increase in the response rate, error of measurement, consequences
of non-response or the development of major comparative surveys.
• Applied research: electoral behaviour, vote mediation, public opinion and European integration, and attitudes having an influence on political participation.
• New projects: new ESS panel study, bringing about a qualitative change with an international bearing; multidisciplinary research with areas using the survey as a methodological
instrument, and specifically with the UPF Applied Economics Institute and the Centre for
Research on Life Course Dynamics.
• Survey methodology transfer: training for experts in Spain and Europe; consultation centre
for companies and other institutions.
• The centre has been promoted by Mariano Torcal, a lecturer from the UPF Department of Political
and Social Sciences and the national ESS coordinator in Spain, and it is directed by Willem Saris, a
worldwide expert in survey methodology and a member of the ESS Central Coordination Team. The
centre regularly collaborates with Spanish universities and the Sociological Research Centre (CIS).
Brain and cognition Research centre
• UPF benefits from internationally renowned research groups in the fields of cognitive sciences
(for instance, neurobiology, language sciences, experimental economics and interactive technologies). Accordingly, this CEI project seeks specifically to foster this emerging multidisciplinary
area, one that is highly neglected on a national scale, though it does have major precedents in
Europe (the University of Edinburgh – the Human Communication Research Centre; and the
University of Trento – the Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences).
• The Brain and Cognition Research Centre, which seeks to boost and offer perspectives on cooperational scientific activity in this field, already benefits from the involvement of three emerg-
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ing research groups who currently conduct their activities at the Poblenou area and are expected
to move to the Ciutadella area once the centre has been set up.
• Groups and research lines:
• Speech Acquisition and Perception Research Group: this group looks into the perception and
production of speech in segmental, suprasegmental and prosodic terms, specifically analysing
babies and bilingual patients.
• Bilingualism and Speech Research Group: this group looks into the effect of bilingualism
on 1) various aspects of cognition, such as learning and attention; and 2) the production of
speech. These studies are particularly relevant for individuals who suffer brain injuries and
they also provide other areas of application.
• Multisensory Research Group: this group looks into the cognitive and neurological basis
for perception and attention in multisensory environments, in other words, how the brain
organises, represents and processes information stemming from various perceptive means
(vision, hearing, touch, etc.).
• Computational Neuroscience Research Group: this group conducts a quantitative study on
precognitive (perception) and cognitive activity using computational models.
• Methodology: various experimental studies (eye-tracking, ERP, fMRI, etc.), analysis on the
speech of individuals with brain injuries, and the development and preparation of computational
models of brain activity, among other methods.
Regulatory impact analysis centre
• The goal of the centre is the application of instruments for analysing regulatory impact in order
to improve public decision-making on a national, autonomous regional and local scale. The setup of a leading centre for analysing legislative policies in Spain and serving all public authorities,
as well as private agencies interested in adapting their activities in line with the various impact
and effectiveness scenarios considered in the new regulations, will bring about major changes
compared to current circumstances.
• The UPF Law Department has formal experience in legislative techniques and can make the
most of its relations with the Department of Economics and the Department of Political Sciences, in addition to the experience provided by the new bachelor’s degree in Criminology and
Public Prevention Policies intended to train criminology experts in empirical analysis and in
assessing public policies in the field of crime.
state Building process in latin america
• This is a research project that arose from an advanced grant awarded by the European Research
Council (ERC) (one of two that have been awarded to Spain for history) which will give rise to
one of the largest online documentary corpora on Latin America (nigh on 20,000 photographs
of original archive documents).
• Launched in January 2009, the project examines the building of the State in Latin America from
the standpoint of fiscal policy, using the example of seven Latin American countries (Argentina,
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala and Uruguay). Spearheaded by Juan Carlos
Garavaglia (UPF/ICREA/EHESS) and with the scientific coordination of Claudia Contente
(UPF/EHESS), the group also has four associate researchers (from Spain, France and Argentina).
The final stage of the project envisages posting online the documents compiled and photographed during the first stage of research, which is currently underway, concerning reports from
the tax authorities, war documents and government papers from 1820 to 1870.
• The project likewise involves training and educating Latin American researchers (five are studying
the master’s degree in World History at UPF and will then prepare their PhD dissertations, while
another researcher is studying her PhD jointly supervised by UPF and the EHESS in Paris), as
well as organising conferences and two workshops (one in Europe and another in Latin America).
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B2: set-Up oF a UpF-Uoc inteRUniveRsity
ReseaRcH centRe on moRal anD
political tHeoRy
0. introduction
There are research groups and lecturers at UPF and UOC devoted to studying current problems in
democracy and justice in globalised societies, and generally studying issues related to philosophy and
moral and political theory.
In recent years, these groups have been working closely together on joint projects, seminars, lectures
and collaborative work between researchers from both universities. As a result, both institutions
think it is highly beneficial to join forces and set up an interuniversity centre as a joint platform so
that the research they conduct in these fields can attain greater international significance.
1. mission
The aim is to set up and firmly establish a leading international centre in an emerging field of study
on matters relating to global justice and democracy. In the medium-term, the priority will be on
research, though the centre will also offer advanced education (a university master’s degree and/or
doctoral studies) in these fields.
2. goals
The UPF-UOC university centre will be focussed on the following four key areas:
• Basic research: the aim is to achieve excellence for research at international level by organising
series of seminars, sessions, workshops and conferences and producing international publications.
• education: the centre will offer postgraduate degrees in its fields of research both individually
and in conjunction with other academic centres, mainly attached to UOC and UPF. There may
be scope for offering joint master’s degrees or more specific courses in a bimodal format10, combining face-to-face classes with online education.
• applied research or consultancy: at a later stage the centre may offer its applied research services to other institutions or bodies (on its specific issues including democracy, justice, administration, human rights, etc).
• international observatory: in the mid-term the centre will also serve as an international observatory for democracy, human rights and social justice. This and the above goal may help to
fund the centre in the future.
10. See project A13.
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3. actions
During the first three years of the project the following actions will need to be carried out:
• To prepare and define the centre’s structure, goals and method of organisation, operation and
funding.
• To establish the agreements needed between the promoting universities and, if applicable, other
institutions or companies contributing to the goals of the centre.
• To set up the centre and arrange a basic structure in terms of organisation and materials.
• To appoint UPF and UOC researchers and an academic management team.
• To define a five year working plan.
• To launch the centre’s regular activities.
• To organise an initial international symposium on “global justice and democracy”, to make the
centre known on the international stage.
4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
Preparation and definition of
the centre’s structure, goals and
method of organisation, operation and funding
x
Establishment of the agreements needed between the
promoting universities and, if
applicable, other institutions or
companies contributing to the
goals of the centre
x
2011-2012
Set-up of the centre and the
arrangement of a basic structure in terms of organisation and
materials
x
Appointment of UPF and
UOC researchers and an academic management team
x
Definition of a five year working plan
x
Launch of the centre’s regular
activities
x
Organisation of an initial
international symposium on
“global justice and democracy”,
to make the centre known on
the international stage
2012-2013
2013-2014
x
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B3: talent attRaction anD tRansnational
moBility pRoject
0. introduction
UPF strives to attract talent and promote transnational education to appeal to, incorporate and further the professional careers of the most competitive Spanish and European researchers. To achieve
this, the university has endeavoured to set up an ambitious programme, earmarking UPF funds as
well as securing finances through other European competitive funds in line with its general aims.
COFUND is one of the Marie Curie initiatives established in the People programme of the 7th Framework Programme which aims to jointly finance existing and newly-established programmes for hiring
doctor researchers under a scheme of transnational mobility. 40% of the total budget will be funded by
the European Commission with a total cost of 5 million euros over a maximum period of ten years.
The university also plans to seek funding for the various potential schemes: for hiring researchers
abroad (re-integration) wishing to return to UPF; to arrange post-doctoral placements abroad (outgoing mobility) with the requirement for the individuals to return to UPF after a year; and for the
direct recruitment to UPF of foreign researchers who are not resident in Spain (incoming mobility).
1. mission
Promoting the attraction of talent and transnational mobility in a highly competitive environment
characterised by a shortfall in resources, adopting an appealing and innovative scheme. The initiative
is intended for internationally prominent researchers to enable them to become spearheads worldwide in their respective fields thanks to their scientific track record and the quality of the research
projects and the publications on which they have worked.
2. goals
The operational goals of the project looking ahead over the next five years are as follows:
• Promoting the reintegration and recruitment of researchers.
• Fostering the mobility of researchers, supplementing their training and enabling them to develop
a striking professional career.
• Helping to develop researchers’ abilities and skills.
• Establishing agreements and alliances with other institutions to stabilise the situation for researchers providing them with internationally competitive salaries.
• Increasing the impact of scientific productivity in the long-term (as of five years from now) along
with the university’s position, particularly on the international stage.
3. actions
Work during the first two years of the project will focus on:
• Specifically defining mobility actions, defining the timetable for execution of the project and the
budget required.
• Designing and agreeing on the method for assessing eligible candidates, vital in choosing the
best researchers based on scientific excellence, suitability and opportunity. Highly competitive
international assessment panels will conduct this task with the participation of experts from UPF.
• Submitting a request for partial funding for hiring researchers through the 7th Framework Programme COFUND scheme in early 2011 (deadline for submission: 17 February 2011) including the aforementioned aspects.
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• Preparing and promoting calls for candidates, selecting candidates and then appointing them in
line with the respective mobility scheme.
• Defining the methodology for assessing and monitoring candidates.
• Identifying other institutions and negotiating agreements with them to stabilise the longer term
situation for researchers and allow them to remain in their posts when they pass their assessments, for instance allowing them to apply to calls to become ICREA researchers or submit bids
to the Ideas programme with the assurance of success enabling the beneficiaries to supplement
their salaries.
4. indicators and forecast
The appointment of researchers is expected to heighten UPF’s scientific output in the medium- and
long-term, improving the university’s international standing, achieving the same success as attained
through the appointment of ICREA researchers with prominent profiles.
Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Definition of the project
x
Submission of a bid to COFUND: bid preparation
x
Calls for selection
x
x
x
Number of researchers to be
selected
4
4
6
Number of Spanish researchers
to return to UPF
2
2
3
Number of researchers through
ICREA contracts (long-term)
25%
Up to four doctors are expected to be appointed during the first two years of the programme with
up to six being incorporated in subsequent years with an average yearly cost of 60,000 euros for each
doctor with a maximum placement period of two years. Once the scheme is complete the aim is to
have appointed 20 doctors with approximately a quarter of them being incorporated for the longterm (5 doctors) through ICREA programmes and similar schemes.
(5 doctores) a través de programas ICREA u otros similares.
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B4: yoUng DoctoRs’ moBility pRogRamme as
paRt oF tHe a4U
0. introduction
The A4U does not usually directly hire its own doctors; rather, it seeks to appoint teaching staff from
international circles, an initiative that is in keeping with the UPF strategy.
To do so, the A4U has promoted a post-doctoral scholarship programme to encourage the mobility
of young doctors between the universities in the alliance and, by extension, on exchanges between
Madrid and Barcelona.
1. mission
Fostering international academic excellence in promoting academic careers and mobility among
teaching and research staff.
2. goals
The young doctors’ mobility programme has two key goals:
• Promoting the mobility of teaching staff by introducing selection mechanisms that are suited to
the practices applied in internationally renowned universities.
• Undertaking a commitment to excellence in doctoral programmes, receiving students who
choose mobility according to quality options, regardless of future professional choices.
3. actions
• The first joint call of the four universities was announced in 2008 with three places being made
available at each institution for young doctors from the other universities, thus encouraging mobility. A total of twelve places were announced for two-year placements with annual remuneration equal to that provided under the Juan de la Cierva programme.
• The number of places offered in the 2009 and 2010 calls doubled with each university signing
six contracts. Two doctors from each of the other three universities were appointed. Accordingly,
the programme offered 24 two-year post-doctoral contracts.
• Each year, UPF receives six young doctors, two from each of the three other institutions in the
alliance for a two-year placement who between them sign contracts for six young doctors from
UPF. What is more, the number of places called each year may be increased to as much as 48
(12 for UPF) looking ahead to 2015.
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4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2008
-2009
2009
-2010
2010
-2011
2011
-2012
2012
-2013
2013
-2014
Total number of doctors in the
programme
12+12
24+24
24+24
36+36
36+36
48+48
Number of doctors appointed
by UPF
3+3
6+6
6+6
9+9
9+9
12+12
First year + Second year
B5: eURopean a4U oFFice in BRUssels (opeRa)
0. introduction
The A4U Alliance was set up in 2008 to promote internationalisation and excellence in the activities
of the four universities in the alliance. To do so, mobility is encouraged among lecturers and doctors
from the institutions and projects are fostered on the context of the European Higher Education
Area (EHEA) and the European Research Area (ERA).
The universities in the 4 Universities Alliance all adopt strategies for internationalisation and excellence at their institutions. For instance, up to the end of 2009, as a whole the universities in the
alliance had engaged in some 168 research projects as part of the 7th Framework programme
of initiatives for research and technological development, a specific EC instrument for fostering
research and development and the chief pillar in the European Research Area. This has led to a financial allocation of nigh on 51 million euros. As a whole, the alliance has been awarded 20% of the
total funds granted to the spanish university sector in the EC 7FP.
This action aims to earn the universities in the A4U greater international prominence by setting up
an office in Brussels (the OPERA office, Office for the Promotion of European Research Activities).
1. mission
The European OPERA office is intended to support the A4U universities in achieving renown within
the European Research Area on the context of the European Union 2020 strategy.
2. goals
The operational goals set out in the project are as follows:
• Furthering the interests of the universities in the A4U in preparing and deciding on EU policies
on R&D&I, as well as in preparing and deciding on the EC working programmes to encourage
R&D&I.
• Boosting the leadership profile and involvement of A4U researchers in European programmes to
encourage R&D&I.
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3. actions
In the case of the first goal, the actions will focus on the following areas:
• Incorporating scientific topics of interest into future working programmes by adopting specifically planned lobbying actions.
• Involving research staff from the universities on European Union think tanks and advisory
groups.
• Working to ensure the universities in the alliance have a place on and take part in the discussions
for preparing the 8th Framework Programme.
• Monitoring and anticipating the developments that are to be expected from the European
R&D&I policy.
• Promoting the goals and representative mission of the OPERA office among key stakeholders
(the European Commission, CDTI, MICINN, etc.) and working to showcase the results of the
universities in the alliance.
• Preparing a cooperation agreement for the alliance and the CDTI as well as other institutions of
interest.
• Engaging in networking with the alliance (representation on networks, platforms, etc.).
In the case of the second goal, the actions will focus on the following areas:
• Encouraging the participation of researchers as experts on the Framework Programme assessment
committee by drawing up lists of eligible candidates and giving a defence of them before EC
officials.
• Anticipating priorities and future scope for funding from the Framework Programme, reporting
them to the researchers of the universities.
• Identifying and promoting funding niches of interest jointly with the universities.
• Providing logistical support to staff from the universities in Brussels (reserving space for project
kick-off meetings, etc.).
• Organising a common learning exercise based on the sharing of best practices among the universities in the alliance and other European universities.
• Providing support to and advising researchers who are embarking on or conducting European
projects.
• Engaging in relations with other institutions to carry out joint projects and initiatives.
The following action is envisaged for both goals:
• Preparing a joint strategic plan for the A4U universities along with an individual plan of action.
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4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Number of researchers as assessors or on think tanks
10
12
14
16
Collaborative projects with
UPF participation
24
40
60
6011
Collaborative projects coordinated by UPF
6
10
15
15
% of projects coordinated by
UPF
25%
25%
25%
25%
Income for 7FP projects (cumulative sum)
24,000,000
28,000,000
33,000,000
38,000,000
Preparation of strategic plan
x
Preparation and annual assessment of UPF plan of action
x
x
x
x
Promotion initiatives (visits,
meetings, events)
30
35
40
45
11. The 7FP ends in 2013. As a result, this period refers to the transition to 8FP and a slight period of stagnation takes places
in terms of calls for bids and awards for projects.
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B6: stRategic KnoWleDge tRansFeR plan
0. introduction
The university’s scientific policy is specified in the UPF25 YEARS Strategy document setting out the
outlook for 2010-2015. As mentioned, knowledge transfer takes on a significant role in the document and it is one of the five key areas of action.
To encourage knowledge transfer and innovation in society in conjunction with other players in
the social and business communities, the university strengthened its OTRI mission (June 2007) by
setting up the Innovation and Research Parks Unit with the aim of lending value to the research
conducted by the university, managing the transfer of knowledge as a strategic institutional resource.
The main activities carried out to date include the preparation of a strategic knowledge transfer plan
for the period between 2009 and 2012. This plan received a positive assessment in the Sub-programme for Support to Tranfer OTRI and is the backbone to this specific area of action.
1. mission
The Strategic Transfer Plan seeks to lend value to the research conducted by the university, managing
the transfer of knowledge as a strategic institutional resource.
2. goals
The main goals of the plan are as follows:
• Placing UPF’s scientific capacities and knowledge potential at the disposal of the social and economic fabric and increasing funding for R&D&I activities.
• Promoting the use of research results and encouraging enterprising spirit and the start-up of
technological and/or intensive knowledge-based companies.
To achieve this goal, the following operational aims are set out in the plan:
• Identifying and assessing those technologies and knowledge areas having the greatest innovation
and market potential.
• Improving and strengthening the protection of research results on campus.
• Raising earnings from industrial property and operating licences for research results.
• Increasing the level of knowledge and involvement of companies in the various funding programmes organised by the public authorities, whilst encouraging the submission of projects
prepared in conjunction with research groups.
• Fostering the start-up of technological and/or intensive knowledge-based companies.
• Improving the training and user-friendliness of staff from the institutions among UPF’s associates involved in assessment and transfer.
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3. actions
The plan includes three main lines of action as follows:
• Identifying and assessing results.
• Protecting and marketing research results (including signing contracts for collaborative R&D,
technology or knowledge licences, and the set-up of technology-based companies).
• Promoting knowledge transfer.
actions to lend value to research results
This comprises all activities to identify technologies and knowledge and to protect results, along with
access to funds and assessment projects.
The strategic associates are responsible for first-rate research that has the potential to be transferred.
In order to explore the potential for transfer, this area of action seeks to systematically organise and
foster the process for identifying new research capacities and results stemming from the output of
the research groups pertaining to UPF’s strategic associates. It also aims to showcase these results to
enable them to be transferred to the socio-economic fabric.
In order to disseminate research results, to encourage the business sector to cooperate on R&D&I
and to foster knowledge transfer, it is vital to engage in efforts to improve preliminary internal assessment processes and protect new results, as well as to develop methodologies and tools and improve
access to databases and resources. Doing so would help to lend value to the results identified.
One specific area of action that is currently being developed is to prepare a commercial catalogue
on the usable technologies and knowledge of the strategic associates. This would provide society
with a structured range of scientific and technological abilities and research results, whilst ensuring
the quality of scientific productions that are intended for assessment and marketing.
transfer actions
These activities are traditional transfer actions such as agreements with companies and other institutions, knowledge transfer contracts and licences and the promotion and monitoring of university
spin-offs.
As well as acting as a driving force for innovation and for improving competitiveness in their respective sectors, the set-up of companies creates jobs and wealth in the community in socio-economic
terms.
Priority will be lent to hiring the services of agents with expertise in assessment and protection in
order to negotiate contract licences, joint ownership agreements and to identifying and hiring the
services of technological brokers and expert consultants from companies in order to market research
results with greater efficiency.
promotion actions
Promotion activities are aimed at fostering strategic alliances for assessment and transfer, for preparing a marketing and communications plan (websites, bulletins, leaflets, databases, etc.) and for training staff from the university’s strategic associates on knowledge transfer.
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The university aims to engage in cooperative schemes with other strategic associates working on
knowledge transfer in order to organise joint transfer conferences in which companies and financial
institutions will take part. Specialist training will be given to transfer technicians from the various
institutions on areas such as the financial assessment of R&D results, the assessment of the potential
of innovation (market prospects and industrial application) and the preparation and negotiation of
knowledge licences and contracts. Efforts will also be made to ensure R&D results achieve greater
international outreach by collaborating with other agents and networks on knowledge transfer (RedOTRI, APTE, IASP, ICEX, madri+d system, ACC10, etc.)12. The aim is to work on joint policies
to promote the internationalisation of patents and other research results or capacities.
Lastly, it is worth pointing out that, under the auspices of the A4U an office for the assessment
and marketing of Research Results has been set up. The office, which currently operates online, is
formed by transfer experts from the four universities and is coordinated by the individuals in charge
of transfer functions in each university. It was set up on 6 October 2009 and the following areas of
action have been envisaged for 2010 and 2011:
The assessment and marketing of R&D&i results
This entails 1) coordinating the development of skills and training in assessment and transfer; 2)
identifying procedures and methodologies for improving internal assessment processes at each
university; 3) fostering the adaptation of internal regulations (article 83 and IPR); 4) appointing and
coordinating a panel of experts according to fields supplemented by hiring technology intelligence
services, protection services and technological brokers; 5) coordinating subscriptions to access databases and management tools; and 6) organizing the technological management platform: preparing a
common website to showcase technological possibilities on the A4U website.
assessing research results in social sciences and humanities
Implementing a joint project to promote knowledge transfer in social sciences and humanities.
12. See section H) Alliances and networks.
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4. plan of action indicators and forecast (2009-2014)
Activities
Goals
2010
2012
2014
Identification
Number of inventions identified per year
20
28
40
Number of national priority
patent applications per year
6
8
10
Number of international extension applications (PCT)
per year
4
5
7
Number of R&D contracts
with companies and institutions per year
100
140
200
Value of contracts with
companies
7,000,000
9,000,000
12,000,000
Number of knowledge
transfer or licence contracts
per year
8
12
16
Value of knowledge transfer
or licence contracts per year
120,000
130,000
400,000
Number of technology-based companies (cumulative)
3
5
8
Protection
Contracts
Licences
TBC start-up
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c
tRansFoRmation oF tHe campUs
into a compReHensive, social moDel
anD its integRation WitHin
its lanD setting
i. starting point and strengths
0. introduction
integrating settings to create an urban environment
Ever since the university was founded, the urban planning and development of the UPF Campus has
taken place in close conjunction with the government of catalonia and Barcelona city council.
These authorities have cooperated with the following tasks:
• Lending a new lease of life to run down areas in Barcelona city centre
• Establishing new magnets for knowledge creation and transfer
All in all, the aim is to create an urban setting.
At present, and thanks to the university’s land development associate 22@Barcelona project, UPF
continues to work closely with the authorities in converting the run down industrial neighbourhood
of Poble Nou into the new 22@ innovation district. However, the project has led to changes in the
production model meaning that all the information on this conversion is detailed in section G) The
university campus’ participation in a new sustainable economic model. In addition, a summary of
the project can be found in section E) Associates, for details on the land development associate for
the Icària International project.
This section sums up the following areas:
• The three urban development projects the university has promoted in cooperation with the
authorities.
• The main links established between UPF and its socio-economic setting.
• The commitments taken on by the university in exercising social responsibility.
These are three key issues to which the university is dedicated in order to establish itself as a campus
that is fully integrated into its land setting and the local community. However, the participation
of UPF in the 2010 Campus of International Excellence will help to speed up this process by carrying out specific actions and benefitting from the involvement of its associates.
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1. a key campus in transforming Barcelona as a platform for
innovation and the knowledge economy on the international stage
In just twenty years, UPF has promoted the establishment of three scientific parks (linked to its three
fields of knowledge), three vital components in transforming the city into a platform for innovation
and the knowledge economy.
This is first and foremost on account of the scientific output and the transfer they produce; however,
it is also because the emergence of such infrastructure with the activity they create helps to lend the
areas in which they are located a new lease of life in terms of their effect on society, the economy and
urban development.
These three urban development projects are set out below:
1.1 main urban development projects13
Connections linking the three UPF campus areas (with a total area of 138,955 sq. m.) are provided
by means of a dense urban and metropolitan transport network (tram, underground, buses, cycle
lanes and commuter trains). Moreover, the UPF campus is in a privileged location for national and
international connections (since it is cheek-by-jowl to the future high-speed train station and will be
directly connected to the airport).
1.1.1 Biomedicine
Area: 65.000 sq. m.
Research project: Barcelona Biomedical Research park (pRBB):
• Consortium developed by UPF in conjunction with the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona
City Council (2006).
• More than 1200 researchers from 50 countries. Groups at the forefront of their field (for instance, from Harvard, Salk and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)).
• Physically connected to the Hospital del Mar, the park plays host to highly coordinated public research centres: the UPF Department of Experimental and Health Sciences (CEXS-UPF),
IMIM, CRG, CMRB, CREAL, IAT.
continued urban development of the park:
• Stage I of work to comprehensively refurbish the Dr Aiguader building, which was assigned to UPF
by the former IMAS, was completed in summer 2009, with the building housing studies in medicine for the 2009-2010 academic year. Stage II is about to be awarded (and is forecast to be completed in July 2011) so that the building can house all teaching areas by the 2011-2012 academic year.
• Linked to the refurbishment of the Hospital del Mar, the work to be carried out involves an area
of more than 16,000 sq. m. and a total investment exceeding 27 million euros.
Urban development awards:
• Ciutat de Barcelona Award for International Renown granted for the PRBB (2006).
13. All the information on activities conducted at the UPF research parks are set out in section B) Scientific improvement
and knowledge transfer.
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1.1.2 communication and information technologies field
Area: 33,977 sq. m.
Research project: Barcelona media park (pBm):
• Urban complex of 60,000 sq. m. developed by UPF and the company Mediacomplex (formed by
the 22@Barcelona municipal corporation and Grupo MediaPro).
• It offers equipment and services focussing on audiovisuals and communication in a sphere centred on training, research and innovation – led by UPF – and another sphere more closely related
to audiovisual production and services for the industry – led by Grupo Mediapro and the Barcelona22@ district, the urban development associate involved in the Icària International project.
continued urban development of the park:
The implementation of UPF in the 22@Barcelona district directly stems from the cooperation
agreements with the City Council and a noteworthy aspect is the 75-year land use right that 22@
Barcelona has granted to UPF.
town planning awards:
Ciutat de Barcelona Award for Architecture and Town Planning granted for the Ca l’Aranyó block
(February 2009) owing to a project that blends the refurbishment of the ancient Ca l’Aranyó factory
in with new architecture. The building, which is complemented by the Imagina tower (the headquarters of the production company Mediapro), is one of the three that form Barcelona Media Park.
1.1.3 social sciences and humanities field
Area: 76,590 sq. m.
Research project: UpF-social sciences and Humanities Research park:
• The current UPF25 YEARS Strategy constitutes a commitment to the promotion and implementation of the Social Sciences and Humanities-UPF Research Park, once the PRBB and the
PBM have been well-established.
• Alliances: Promoted by UPF, with initial support from the CREI, the Barcelona GSE, the IET
and CREMed.
• Strengths: this commitment embodies academic potential, since UPF is the first Spanish university in
the Top 100 in the field of social sciences according to the Times Higher Education Supplement (2009),
holding position 62 worldwide, and scope for expansion, because 60,000 sq. m. remain to be developed and could be used for establishing ties with other internationally renowned institutions.
• The promotion of the Social Sciences and Humanities-UPF Research Park is one of the foremost
initiatives in this project and further details can be found in section B).
town planning awards:
• Ciutat de Barcelona Award for Architecture and Town Planning granted for the refurbishment of
the Jordi Rubió i Balaguer Agora (1996).
• Ciutat de Barcelona Award for Architecture and Town Planning granted for the refurbishment
of the former Roger de Llúria barracks (2001). The project has already been nominated in the 44
ADI-FAD Awards for Architecture and Interior Design.
• Década de Arquitectura Award (from the Oscar Tusquets Blanca foundation) granted for the UPF library thanks to the refurbishment of the Dipòsit de les Aigües library in Parc de la Ciutadella (2009).
2. a campus that is linked to its social and business environment
Ever since UPF was founded the university has engaged in close ties with companies and institutions
that contribute to teaching and research activities (ties are currently held with more than 80 entities).
A detailed list of these and the various forms of cooperation can be seen in section E) Associates.
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2.1 University-company
At the same time, UPF helps to engage with society through the university foundation and, in particular, thanks to the Promotion and Business programme and the UPF Alumni programme (one of
the key actions set out in this proposal).
promotion and Business programme, which focuses its activities on the following areas:
• Promoting the employment integration and professional career development of final year
students and graduates (10,000 CVs prepared and 5000 companies recorded. In 2009 nigh on
1000 job offers were processed and the university has record of 250 graduates being hired). Also,
every year the UpFeina employment exhibition is organised (the fifth edition was attended by
1500 people, as well as 5 sponsors and 44 leading companies in the employment sector who had
their own stand during the entire exhibition).
• Managing the UpF Business chairs (at present the Telefónica Social Media chair; the Rafael
del Pino Foundation chair; the BANCAJA Young Entrepreneurs chair – which embarked on a
renewed commitment to UPF this year – and the more recent UPF-SEMG-Grünenthal chair of
Family Medicine and Health Economics.
• Signing agreements with companies and institutions, including prominent entities such as
El País, La Vanguardia, Universia-Movistar, the Manpower Foundation, Deloitte, Toshiba and
several hotel chains.
The UpF alumni programme was organised in 2008 to promote the university nationally and
abroad and it envisages the following goals:
• Organising a network for former students (a database of former students has been created which
is linked to the university’s records and ever since a campaign has been underway to help locate
former students).
• Setting up the channels needed to encourage communication between the university and former
students (website, e-magazine and newsletters on activities and services).
• Setting up a professional career service to provide former students with professional guidance
and job offers.
• Organising activities that encourage relations between university community members.
2.2 museums and university halls of residence
Promotion of university museums is driven by means of cooperation agreements with centres in the
setting (Contemporary Art Museum of the Vila Casas Foundation) and the potential for setting up
a museum of modern art on the first floor of the Imagina Mediapro building (agreement with the
Ministry of Culture of the Government of Catalonia).
Moreover, UPF is engaged in agreements with several halls of residence: agreement with RESA for exclusive
use. “University Services and Housing” (250 places in the Ciutadella area and 150 in the Mar area); agreement with Melon District for preferential use of a residence (between 500 and 600 places in the centre of
the 22@Barcelona district as of September 2009, and 1010 places at Poble Sec); use of the Ágora residence
(280 places, 10% preference for UPF) and ONIX residence (280 places, 70% preference for UPF).
2.3 social institutions
The university strategy includes creating an area open to the neighbourhood, to companies and to
institutions in its setting by means of countless academic, cultural and scientific activities.
As a result of the close ties UPF embarks on with the various campus settings, in cooperation with
the public authorities the university has organised several economic promotion and innovation
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activities, particularly on the context of the 22@Barcelona project (22@Network association of
companies, 22@Update Breakfast, 22@Voluntariat and the Digital District programme, all of which
are detailed in section G)).
As far as cultural institutions are concerned, agreements have been signed with the Vallés Symphonic Orchestra (for the organisation of various activities, such as concerts, workshops, courses,
music in classrooms); the Vila-Casas Foundation (specific agreement with the Faculty of Humanities
for jointly organising conferences) and the School of Music of Catalonia (cooperation agreement and
plans for the joint programming of regular music activities open to the public at the UPF venue).
Lastly, the university has been involved in many activities with local secondary school centres such as
informative sessions on the UPF bachelor’s degrees in schools and colleges; talent reward and recruitment programmes (for instance, involving financial awards for the best upper secondary school research
projects) and there are also plans for the signing of agreements with state secondary schools in the
geographical area (for instance, IES Salvador Espriu; IES Icària; IES Verdaguer) in order to develop the
future university master’s degree in Teacher Training for Secondary Education, Vocational Training and
Language Teaching in cooperation with these centres. Moreover, consideration is being given to the
possibility of students in the various UPF disciplines undertaking internships in some of these schools.
3. a campus that invests in the community that promotes it
The university is engaged in efforts to promote distinguished activities that are more aligned to the
interests of the various groups in the university community and society in general.
3.1 services and opportunities for the UpF community
3.1.1 student support programmes
Noteworthy programmes include the assistance service for special needs students, the psychological counselling service, the ‘In Complete Control’ programme (information and advice on drugs
and sexuality), the high performance sportsmen programme, as well as the organisation of various
cultural and sporting activities.
3.1.2 student participation on the main governing bodies
of the university
The significance the current management lends to students is demonstrated by the set-up of the
office of the vice-rector for students following the recent rector elections held on 26 February
2009. This decision laid the foundations for the notion that student participation and representation
constitutes a backbone to university policy in line with the goal of assuring the presence of students
in university life.
During this period, the Office of the Vice-rector for Students has focussed its strategy of action on
four main goals:
• Providing the conditions needed for open discussion and dialogue among the entire university
community.
• Strengthening student involvement by reviewing student organisation and representation as it
currently stands in the university.
• Formally arranging and expanding on internal and external channels for communication with
students.
• Improving and expanding the services offered to students.
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In line with this idea, the recent UPF25 YEARS Strategy benefits from student contributions by
means of a working committee established to this end.
3.1.3 training activities for teaching and research staff
Worth highlighting in this area are the initial training in University teaching programme
(FiDU) the aim of which is to provide basic teacher training for new lecturers in accordance with
the EHEA; training activities on the use of technologies and languages; or the preparation by the
university of useful informative materials for teaching staff wishing to find out about the methodologies adopted by UPF and the opportunities the university offers.
3.1.4 occupational hazard prevention
During the 2009-2010 academic year, the Technical Office for Occupational Hazard Prevention has
worked with 2514 protected individuals and conducted a total of 898 health checks. The actions carried out by the office include the establishment of the Committee for Coordinating and Monitoring
Infectious Outbreaks (which prepared a proposal of actions aimed at preventing the flu pandemic
H1N1 from spreading at UPF) and the development of an organizational model for action in emergencies at the campuses (which included three general drills).
3.1.5 online access to university services
To ensure citizens’ right to organise their dealings with the public authorities online and to improve
relations between students and teaching staff with the university, the services UPF offer are made
available online.
In addition, the project for the implementation of e-administration is another priority action in
this proposal.
3.1.6 international research conferences
The university’s significance in terms of research and its privileged location in Barcelona have
resulted in UPF hosting and organising countless international conferences on research thanks to arrangements made with other higher education institutions and bodies. The most recent conferences
include the following:
• First ISA Forum of Sociology, Dept. of Political and Social Sciences, September 2008.
• International Conference on Information Visualisation, Dept. of Information and Communication Technologies, July 2009.
• Congress of the European Economic Association and the Econometric Society European meeting, Dept. of Economics and Business – Barcelona GSE, August 2009.
• International Conference of Architectures and Mechanisms for Language Processing, Dept. of
Information and Communication Technologies – ICREA, September 2009.
• Meeting of Faculties of Law from Spain and Ibero-America: new opportunities for legal education in Spain and Ibero-America, Dept. Law, March 2010.
• International Conference on Eclipse of Empires. Colonial Resistance, Metropolitan Decline and
Imperial Crises in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Dept. Humanities, May 2010.
• Biotechnological research in a complex world, as part of the 20th anniversary of the EC-US Task
Force, PRBB, June 2010.
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3.1.7 summer camps
To help strike a balance between family and working life, UPF has promoted two summer camps for
children of members of the UPF community which are close to the facilities comprising the campus.
To do so, the university has signed an agreement with CEIP Antoni Brusi primary school (pedagogical proposal from the Pere Tarrés foundation) and CEIP Bogatell (pedagogical proposal from the
association Serveis d’Esplai).
3.2 University social responsibility
3.2.1 integration plan for disabled persons at UpF
The integration plan for disabled persons at UPF was submitted to several UPF groups and representative sector organisations in 2009 for consultation. It was approved by the UPF Board of
Governors on 27 January 2010 once the changes and suggestions received had been included. It was
also resolved to set up a monitoring committee with representatives from all groups in the university community and representative sector organisations. In 2009 the university has already begun to
foster the plan through the following actions:
• Setting up the Support to Special Programmes Unit upon which it is incumbent to draw up
the integration plan.
• Preparing an accessibility plan for Ciutadella area and the Mercè building.
• Purchasing materials and hiring the technical support needed by submitting bids in the call
for grants for university actions aimed at supporting disabled students.
• Preparing a new website with useful information on what the UPF has to offer in terms of
supporting special needs students.
• Embarking on dealings with administrative and academic areas in order to conduct specific
actions.
3.2.2 isabel de villena gender equality plan
In 2009 work began on implementing the Isabel de Villena Gender Equality Plan (2008-2010),
which was approved in the meeting of the Board of Governors held on 15 December 2008. During
this period, a Standing Committee for Gender Equality Policies has been set up and is chaired by
the respective vice-rector. Also, the Support to Special Programmes Unit has been set up as a unit for
equality which, in line with current legislation, is required to conduct its duties based on the principle of gender equality whilst supporting the aforementioned standing committee. Likewise, at the
end of November 2009, a UPF agent for equality between men and women was appointed.
The actions carried out in 2009 include the publication of separate statistic according to gender in
La UPF en Cifras statistical information publication, the creation of a new website, the organisation
of activities such as theme-based presentations (Breaking the Silence and Afghanistan Wants to be
Alive) and conferences (the presence or lack of presence of women in science: the situation in and
challenges facing Catalonia); and the preparation and dissemination of new recommendations for
using non-sexist language.
During the coming months, an assessment will be conducted on the current gender equality plan
and the next plan will be drawn up for the period from 2011 to 2012.
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3.2.3 cooperation and solidarity
The UPF Solidaria platform works on three main lines of action:
networking with other universities, which has given rise to the following:
• The adherence of UPF to the universities code of conduct for development cooperation promoted by the CRUE / CEURI (approved in the meeting of the Board of Governors held on 27
January 2010.
• Participation in the ACUP project to strengthen the impact and quality of university development cooperation and involvement in the diga programme (Catalonia-Africa).
• The organisation of the stay at UPF (from 28 September to 10 October 2009) of a lecturer from
the Sociology Department of the University of Oran) to cooperate with the UPF Department of
Humanities on a joint study on “Migratory imagery: models and representations” (an initiative
that forms part of the “Economy and local development” project from the Algeria-Universities
Programme [PAU] of the Vives network).
Fostering the participation of the university community, which has given rise to the following:
• The start of work to prepare the UPF Development Cooperation and Solidarity Map (which will
make it possible to set up a coordinated network and information system among members of the
university community who work in these fields).
• The subsidisation of 5 projects (from 15 applications), with a total investment of 50,000 euros
(an annual call for grants is announced for projects involving actions of solidarity in 2010, which
benefits from major financial contributions from the Board of Trustees).
• The publication of a new UPF Solidaria website (work is also underway to publish an electronic
newsletter on UPF’s activities for solidarity).
• The organisation (in cooperation with external NGOs and institutions) of activities to raise awareness
on current issues (the lecture “Haiti after the earthquake. The perspective in terms of development
cooperation”, the exhibition “Paintings for climate change” in conjunction with Intermón-Oxfam,
the campaign to combat the death sentence with the Community of Sant’Egidio, the photographic
exhibition “Afghanistan Wants to be Alive” in conjunction with ACAF, the blanket collection campaign, the blood donation campaigns in conjunction with the Banc de Sang i Teixits, etc.).
• The participation of 555 members of the university community in the 0.7% campaign at UPF
(2009), with a total value of 10,085 euros (513 members were students who made a contribution
of 3905 euros).
promoting volunteering among UpF students has required the following actions:
• To expand on the current volunteering pool (which compiles volunteering places called for by
external institutions).
• To plan the future UPF volunteering classroom (to contribute to the comprehensive education of
students and raise awareness regarding the situation in society and show the effects that solidarity
and social justice can bring about).
• To manage UPF’s participation in the UN University Volunteers programme (for the 2009 edition one student was already assigned to a placement in Nicaragua and shortly the 2010 edition
will be underway and UPF will again take part).
3.2.5 agenda 21
The UPF Agenda 21 proposal was approved in the 2007-08 academic year and enshrines the commitments taken on by the institution in terms of the environment. Thanks to a process that was
open to the university community and channelled by the Commission for the Environment, the
Agenda 21 includes an assessment of the university’s situation as well as a plan of action.
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Similarly, as part of the goals set out in this Agenda 21, a study has been drawn up on the possibility
of installing photovoltaic energy cells in the Ciutadella area. The study looked into the roof conditions in the Roger de Llúria building and it was calculated that there could be a facility of some 1441
sq. m. covered by 1488 panels. It has been calculated that the power produced could bring some
111,488 euros in income per year (approximately 11% of average annual consumption in this area).
At the present, the university is examining the scope for commissioning the technical plans that will
specify the costs and the economic and environmental benefits to be gained from the facility, as well
as the rate of return needed on the investment.
3.2.6 Unesco chairs
Various activities are organised within the framework of the UNESCO chairs granted to UPF:
• The Unesco chair in ibero-american culture covers all manner of activities and interests
such as colonialism, Hispano-American literature, culture and marginality, modernity and the
turn of the century, pre-Columbian art and Indigenismo.
• The Unesco chair in intercultural studies strives to raise awareness among the university
community and society in general with regard to issues stemming from current migratory processes which have transformed Catalonia and Spain into receiving destinations.
• The Unesco chair in the environmental life cycle which was recently established.
3.2.7 UpF senior and classrooms for senior citizens
The unique aspect about the UPF Senior programme, which has 21 registered students this year, is
that the students are not separated from the other UPF members by means of ad hoc courses; rather,
they are able to register for subjects on official syllabi offered each year on a list approved by the UPF
Academic Planning Committee. The list is proposed by the programme coordinator who consults
the respective dean’s offices beforehand on the matter.
As part of the classrooms for senior citizens scheme, two visits were organised at the Poblenou communication area (April 2010) and one to the PRBB facilities (May 2010). A total of nine classrooms
are assigned to UPF under the scheme.
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4. indicators of the transformation of the campus into a comprehensive, social model and its integration within its land setting
Table XVI. Indicators of the transformation of the campus into a comprehensive, social model and
its integration within its land setting (2010-2015)
Ref.
Indicator
2009-2010
academic year
Target for 2015
3.1
Number of student meeting points
7
10
3.2
Number of individuals who use
the sports facilities
1085
1300
3.3
Number of participants in virtual
learning environments
100%
100%
3.4
E-administration
management processes
71 processes /
50,697 steps
100%
3.5
Number of visitors
to the dissemination website
9,081,523 visits /
3,532,361 different
visitors
20% increase
3.6
Number of cultural activities
21 activities14
20% increase
3.7
Percentage of the campus that
does not have architectural
barriers
100%
100%
3.8
Percentage of the campus that has
adopted an emergency plan
100%
100%
3.9
Extent of water monitoring
100%
100%
3.10
Extent of gas monitoring
100%
100%
3.11
Extent of electricity monitoring
100%
100%
3.12
Number of special
waste collection centres
266
20% increase
3.13
Places in university residences
1471
20% increase
3.14
Number of student job offers
1758
20% increase
3.15
Size of funding for solidarity
projects
€50,000
€100,000
3.16
Number of volunteering, solidarity and cooperation programmes
in which UPF is involved
15
20% increase
2.17
Number of students, teaching
and research staff and administrative and service staff involved in
volunteer programmes
770
20% increase
2.18
Number of individuals specifically
devoted to promotion actions
2 full time
3
2.19
Number of shared urban facilities
6
8
2.20
Dealings established with residents’ associations and social
institutions
10
20
14. It is necessary to consider that most of these involve several actions or sessions. For instance, the “Òpera oberta” activity
involves 6 auditions; the university choir and orchestra conduct several actions throughout the academic year.
ii. actions
0. introduction
This section details three actions aimed at ensuring the UPF campus is integrated into society and its
land setting.
• C1: UPF Alumni programme
• C2: E-administration implementation project
• C3: Plan of action for a comprehensive model of student participation
Nonetheless, before addressing these three actions it is necessary to highlight two projects that also
help to reach this goal:
• E. Urban development associate: 22@Barcelona project
• B1. UPF-Social Sciences and Humanities Research Park
All the associates involved with the project seek to contribute to the social, economic and urban integration of the campus. The 22@Barcelona project – the Icària International urban development associate – is especially noteworthy. The project will help to transform the rundown Poble Nou industrial neighbourhood (the old Manchester of Catalonia) into the current 22@ innovation district in
accordance with the new economic model. This is the perfect illustration of the change of economic
model that emerged at the turn of the 21st century: from the industrial economy to the knowledge
economy, establishing a new academic, scientific, enterprising and innovative environment of quality
which is fully integrated into society whilst having a significant international calling15.
Moreover, the consolidation of the UpF-social sciences and Humanities Research park (which
has been included in section B owing to its potential when it comes to scientific output and knowledge transfer16) is also another major infrastructure facility (in terms of material and human resources); therefore, it has a direct impact on the social and territorial setting of the UPF campus.
Map of the UPF–Social Sciences and Humanities Research Park
15. Project detailed in section E) Associates and G) Participation in a sustainable economic model.
16. See action B1.
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c1: UpF alUmni pRogRamme
0. introduction
The former students and friends of UPF programme – UPF Alumni – was established by the university in July 2009. During the 2009-2010 academic year, the basic aspects of the programme were
developed (database, UPF Alumni web page and the newsletter). This will help to organise the UPF
Alumni community and promote the launch of services and activities addressed to this group.
The implementation of the programme as part of the 2010 Campus of International Excellence project
will help to raise the profile of the campus as a setting for coexistence and integration with society.
1. mission
The mission of the programme is threefold:
• Establishing and strengthening ties between the university and all groups with which it engages
in dealings.
• Fostering and conveying the image of the university as an institution of the utmost quality to
similar groups: former students, lecturers, prospective students, companies and institutions, both
nationally and internationally, who interact with UPF.
• Setting up a platform that makes it possible in the medium-term to embark on the tasks of seeking out external funding enabling the university to carry out new projects.
2. goals
• Developing a network of contacts among former students, and between former students and the
university.
• Ensuring members of the UPF Alumni community are informed as to new developments and
projects being conducted by the university.
• Enhancing the professional careers of former students both nationally and internationally by offering the tools needed (employment service, career guidance courses, mentoring, etc.).
• Promoting continuing education for former students, working with various UPF faculties and
centres to offer suitable postgraduate courses.
• Transforming the UPF Alumni community into a leading group in the fields of social sciences,
communication and biomedicine.
3. actions
• Locating former UPF friends and students (7500 for the 2014-2015 academic year).
• Network arrangement: online directory, clubs according to sectors and international chapters of
societies.
• Entering into agreements with local, autonomous regional, national and international bodies
making it possible to establish relations between the UPF network and other networks.
• Setting up a professional careers service allowing for access to job vacancies, customised career
guidance and career guidance courses.
• Developing a basic range of services: email, access to library services, university card, company
products and service discounts, etc.
• Organising activities (courses, sessions, meetings, etc.) to promote the professional careers of
former students.
• Developing the strategic plan for fundraising addressed to former students.
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4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
UPF Alumni members
3000
4000
5000
6200
Clubs
6
8
10
12
International chapters of
societies
8
12
14
16
Number of users of the personal guidance services
40
50
65
80
Career guidance courses
8
12
15
18
UPF Alumni activities
10
14
18
20
Agreements with institutions
4
6
8
10
e
c2: -aDministRation
implementation pRoject
0. introduction
The e-administration project stems from a legal requirement (set out in Law 11/2007) to ensure students and lecturers can engage in online dealings with the university and benefit from the same levels
of service and legal security as they would when dealing with the institution in person. Similarly,
the project underlines the profile of the Internet as a global communication channel that constitutes
a highly popular aspect in the behaviour of new generations. Lastly, the UPF conceives this project
as a tool for improving administrative procedure by reducing processing times and processing costs,
thereby improving efficiency in the university’s internal management.
1. mission
Ensuring the right of teaching staff and students to engage in dealings with the university over the Internet.
2. goals
strategic goals
• Fostering and setting up channels for interoperability between UPF, other universities, the public
authorities and citizens to allow the latter to carry out their formalities with the university online, if they wish.
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• Setting up a reliable environment in technical and legal terms that allows dealings to be conducted between the various university groups via the Internet.
• Improving administrative management based on computerising administrative procedures for all
areas admissible by law.
• Encouraging interuniversity cooperation when it comes to jointly developing e-administration.
The Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP) is working with UPF to develop
electronic administration platforms, services and products: document management platforms,
e-signatures, e-voting, online registration, etc.
operational goals
• Ensuring that 80% of services are made available to the university community over the Internet.
• Continuing to develop digitisation of academic and administrative transcripts.
• Incorporating ITCs into all administrative procedures.
• Broadening online dealings between students and lecturers, on the one hand, and the university,
on the other.
• Encouraging university groups to become involved with this new online method for dealings
with the institution.
• Improving administrative steps by reducing processing times and costs.
3. actions
During the first two years endeavours will focus on:
• Launching mechanisms for digital identity and e-signatures for groups which have at their disposal services where these legal and technical tools are paramount.
• Fostering e-documentation (in preference over the use of paper) by setting up a document management system and tools for the signature and preservation of e-documents.
• Promoting online dealings with companies by means of projects such as the business services
folder, the online invoice, e-procurement, etc.
• Developing a host of processes and services using online means providing full legal assurance
based on the electronic transcript.
• Implementing e-voting tools in the university’s election procedures.
• Promoting inter-administrative dealings with other universities and the public authorities over
the Internet.
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4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Launch of the e-transcript
x
Digital certificates distributed
250
1000
5000
5000
Online procedures
5
20
50
75
E-transcripts
50
1000
5000
10,000
E-voting in election procedures
0
3
5
10
Interoperability documents
transmitted
0
1000
5000
10,000
c3: plan oF action FoR a compReHensive
moDel oF stUDent paRticipation
0. introduction
Student participation and representation is one of the university’s major goals and students must play
an active role in university life.
In order to encourage student participation and help to build an environment that allows individuals
to work in an atmosphere of dialogue and open debate, this plan of action has been proposed and it
focuses on three main areas: representation, the academic sphere and culture and sports.
1. mission
Ensuring active student participation in university life to build an environment that allows individuals to work in an atmosphere of dialogue and cooperation.
2. goals
• Strengthening student representation mechanisms.
• Encouraging dialogue between the student community and the academic sphere.
• Fostering cultural and sporting activities organised on the UPF campus, especially those promoted by students.
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3. actions
area 1: Representation
• Increasing student participation on committees dealing with specific university issues to supplement their regular levels of representation on the university’s various governing bodies, statutory
and sectoral committees.
• Improving the dynamics of student participation on the university’s main representative bodies
by organising preparatory meetings where the items put forward are reviewed in advance and
students can provide a well-documented point of view.
• Carrying out a reform on regulations and the organisation of the Student Council to improve
and heighten participation by setting up a committee for the reform of its structure and organisation (advice).
• Strengthening student associations:
• Setting up a working board (formed by individuals in charge of all the university associations) to review regulations.
• Establishing new channels for informing students so that associations can give an explanation
as to the activities they conduct and their goals (website, conferences).
• Improving the services and means the university offers associations to carry out their projects
and activities.
area 2: The academic sphere
• Improving coordination between the Office of the Vice-rector for Students, the various faculty
deans and school directors and students by coordinating a common system for student organisation which sets out the main problems faced by students on each degree in order for the issues to
be passed on to a common committee.
• Reconsidering and strengthening the figure of the delegate by establishing a new delegation
structure to allow the delegate to have greater power in his duties.
area 3: culture and sports
• Strengthening channels for student assistance and communication.
• Pursuing the policy for providing institutional support to initiatives promoted by students (cultural or sporting activities, conferences, exhibitions, etc.).
• Promoting culture by showcasing activities planned through a new campaign to attract students with a view to heightening participation (the choir, chamber orchestra and drama) and by
launching new initiatives (such as the voice workshop).
• Fostering sports by raising student participation (especially among female students), by varying sporting practice, offering assistance for minority sports and improving the extent to which
student sportsmen and sportswomen are acknowledged and made known.
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4. indicators and forecast
Goals
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Representation
Achieving maximum representation of students in the
university’s decision-making
processes
x
Improving the dynamics of
student participation on the
university’s main representative
bodies
x
Carrying out a reform on regulations and the organisation of
the Student Council
x
Strengthening student associations
x
Ámbito académico
Improving coordination between the Office of the Vicerector for Students, the various
faculty deans and school
directors and students
x
Reconsidering and strengthening the figure of the delegate
x
Ámbito cultural y deportivo
Pursuing the policy for providing institutional support to
student activities
x
Strengthening channels for
student assistance and communication
x
Promoting culture
x
Fostering sports
x
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D
specialist FielDs
0. introduction
striking a balance between specialist fields: UpF’s true specialty
UPF is a State university that was founded by the Government of Catalonia in 1990 in order to
modernise Catalonia’s university system and lend it a new lease of life.
This perspective led to the formation of a university which, unlike the rest of the system, structured
its studies around three highly linked specialist fields of knowledge having cross-border cores of
knowledge:
• Social sciences and humanities
• Communication and information technologies
• Biomedicine
Likewise, the university was conceived with the following aims:
• Combining quality teaching and research having international outreach.
• Organising a model that currently culminates in the planning of leading postgraduate studies on
the three aforementioned scientific fields.
1. a campus conceived on the basis of three specialist fields
UPF’s founding commitment was to establish itself as a university specialising in three fields of
knowledge. Accordingly, in the space of just twenty years, the university has built sufficient experience and a solid critical mass in order to be a competitive institution on the international stage in its
three specialist areas: social sciences and humanities, communication and information technologies,
and biomedicine.
As a result, on the context of the 2010 Campus of International Excellence project, the UPF25
YEARS Strategy intends to foster these three fields of knowledge to which the university is devoted by encouraging synergies among the three areas. Indeed, at an international level these three
fields of knowledge are also developing towards interaction.
The following diagram portrays the Icària International project, which establishes cross-disciplinary
relations among all the university’s scientific fields in order to ensure that individuals are placed at
the heart of the institution’s teaching and research activities.
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Diagram III. Chart of synergies and interaction
SOCIAL
SCIENCES
AND
HUMANITIES
ECONOMy
ANd HEALTH
EVOLUTIONARy
BIOLOGy
TECHNOLOGIES
ANd LINGUISTICS
BRAIN ANd
COGNITION
THE
INDIVIDUAL
INFORMATION
AND
COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGIES
BIOMEDICINE
BIOMEdICAL
IMAGING
BIOINFORMATICS
Lastly, in order to lay testimony to the university’s strengths in each of these fields along with existing synergies, several international rankings according to fields of knowledge are given below in addition to a brief list of interdisciplinary projects on which the university is working.
1.1 Rankings17 according to fields of knowledge
• First Spanish university in the field of social sciences according to the Times Higher Education
Supplement (2009), holding position 62 worldwide, and the fifth in arts and humanities.
• First Spanish university, seventh in Europe and thirty-fifth worldwide for research in economics according to the research ranking prepared by the University of Tilburg (2009) in a database
compiling articles published in the 68 foremost journals in the fields of econometrics, economics, statistics and finance for the period between 2004 and 2008.
• UPF is part of the excellence group in the fields of economics and business and in political and
social sciences according to the CHE-Excellence Ranking (2009).
• First university in Ibero-America and Spain for social sciences in terms of international collaboration, average scientific quality and percentage of publications in journals listed in the first
quartile of the most influential journals in the world (Ibero-American Ranking SIR 2010).
• First university in Ibero-America and Spain for health sciences in terms of average scientific
quality and percentage of publications in journals listed in the first quartile of the most influential journals in the world. In terms of international collaboration, UPF is the top Spanish
university and the fifth in Ibero-America (Ibero-American Ranking SIR 2010).
• First university in Ibero-America and Spain for life sciences in terms of percentage of publications in journals listed in the first quartile of the most influential journals in the world and the
17. Rankings for teaching can be seen in the section A) Teaching improvement and the EHEA and rankings for research can
be seen in section B) Scientific improvement and knowledge transfer.
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top university in Spain (and sixth in Ibero-America) for international collaboration. With regard
to average scientific quality, UPF is the second university in Spain and in Ibero-America (IberoAmerican Ranking SIR 2010).
• With regard to IT, UPF was the top Spanish State university and among the top 100 in the
world according to the Ranking of World Universities of the University of Shanghai (ARWU,
2009), which does not weight rankings according to university size.
1.2 interdisciplinary projects
1.2.1 ict–Bio
Biomedical imaging technologies
Biomedical imaging technologies are a vital component in the increasing technical approach adapted
to biomedical processes and the customisation of health systems. UPF currently has a technological
research group that works with researchers from the biomedical area in order to set up a biomedical
imaging technology centre. Developed by UPF, this centre will work to improve healthcare through
research, development and innovation in medical technologies (and in biomedical imaging in particular).
Bioinformatics
One of the purposes of bioinformatics is the application of advanced information technologies and
calculation methods to health and life sciences. A UPF research group is currently working on these
areas in conjunction with researchers from the IMIM-Hospital del Mar. This is a multidisciplinary
team (involving biologists, chemists, pharmacists, doctors, computer technicians and information
specialists) of more than seventy scientists organising their activities in six laboratories (in accordance
with the group’s main lines of activity): computational genomics, structural bioinformatics, computational biophysics and biochemistry, chemogenomics, computer-assisted drug design and integrative
biomedical informatics.
1.2.2 ict–ss&H
language resources and technologies
Language resources and technologies (LRTs) – which include machine translation, extraction of
information from texts, the detection of opinions or readers for the visually impaired – make it possible to progress in terms of research in fields of knowledge involving textual data where the use of
technologically advanced instruments is still in the very early stages. The LRT skills centre aims to
ensure access and maximise the use of cutting-edge technologies as needed to perform research that
is competitive on an international level, whilst generating new innovative services that meets the
needs of the business sector and society.
Brain and cognition research
UPF has research groups with a prominent international profile in the field of cognitive sciences
(including neurobiology, language sciences, experimental economics and interactive technologies);
therefore, the consolidation of the centre will help to showcase and promote these collaborative scientific activities. Practical applications include research on perception and production of speech (especially in bilingual patients and babies); the effect of bilingualism on learning, attention or speech
production (with implications for the treatment of brain injuries, among other areas); perception
in multisensory environments; and a quantitative study on precognitive (perception) and cognitive
activity using computational models.
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1.2.3 ss&H–Bio
Research on economics and health
The Research Centre for Economics and Health (CRES) assists a UPF research group which,
through university research, strives to contribute to changing and improving the way health services
are managed and training is given. The practical applications include analysing changes in the regulation of national health systems (along with the implications entailed for the financial, organisational
and managerial capacity of the system). The centre also addresses issues such as the mechanisms for
incorporating public competence into health management processes; the introduction of social assurance notions in the national health system; and the application of methods for assessing effectiveness and equality in health service provision.
evolutionary biology
The Evolutionary Biology Institute (IBE) – a joint initiative of the CSIC and UPF – has become an
international leader in biodiversity studies and their development, from a molecular and genomic
standpoint, particularly focussing on human diversity. The institute stands out thanks to its ability
to approach studies on functional and genome evolution and studies describing biodiversity from
a range of observational scales including a molecular, biochemical, genomic, physiological, morphological and ethological (cognitive) standpoint. It promotes the use of its highly sophisticated
technologies, especially encouraging use of major genome sequencing projects.
Similarly, the UPF Experimental Economics Laboratory (LeeX) has been working with the IBE –
and in conjunction with the Ernst Ferh laboratory in Zurich – on a joint project which involves
researchers in psychology, anthropology and genetics. The study is a pioneering interdisciplinary
initiative in this field and it examines human genetic architecture in socio-economic terms, such as
risk preferences, altruism or strategic behaviour.
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2. a campus clearly focussed on postgraduate studies
The university strategy essentially aims to promote postgraduate studies in the coming years18. Nonetheless, the synergies emerging among the three fields of knowledge are also taking place with regard
to bachelor’s degrees. In this respect, looking ahead to the 2011-2012 academic year, the university
plans to offer a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical engineering jointly organised by the Department
of Information and Communications Technologies and the Department of Experimental and Health
Sciences.
postgraduate studies form a context for the fusion of excellence in teaching and research to which
UPF has been committed ever since it was founded. For instance, quality research inevitably brings
with it the preparation of doctoral programmes of excellence. Moreover, the education of leading
doctoral students helps to ensure the research conducted by the university will also be first class.
With regard to this objective, it is worth highlighting the role played by UPF’s two interuniversity
postgraduate platforms (Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and the Barcelona Institute for
International Studies), two internationally renowned centres of outstanding quality which constitute
the essence of the project’s associate network in terms of teaching.
The active involvement of both platforms – who focus their activities on social sciences and humanities19 – is intended to consolidate UPF’s standing as a leading centre for postgraduate platforms in
Barcelona. Initially, the location of the IBEI at the UPF Social Sciences and Humanities Park (action
B1) will help to merge capacities (infrastructure, materials, human resources, etc.). Consequently, it
will boost the synergies arising between both institutions. At a later stage, this postgraduate platform
model may be applied to other scientific fields at the UPF campus.
18. See section A) Teaching improvement and EHEA.
19. See action A10.
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e
associates
0. introduction
Bringing together capacities to raise excellence
UPF has a long-standing history of associating with institutions and organisations that contribute
to the university’s activities. Even so, to ensure the optimal development of the Icària International
project, new associates have been secured because the multiplier effect of all of them is vital to
heightening excellence.
Indeed, the Icària International project benefits from the participation of strategic partners that can
be grouped into six different categories.
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Table XVII. Associates according to categories
institutional associates
Barcelona City Council
Government of Catalonia
University associates
Open University of Catalonia (UOC)
4 Universities Alliance (A4U)
Urban development associate
22@Barcelona project
teaching associates: postgraduate platforms
Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE)
Barcelona Institute for International Studies (IBEI)
Continuing Education Institute (IDEC)
Research associates
Scientific Research Council (CSIC)
Research Centre for International Economics (CREI)
Research Centre for Mediterranean Economies (CREMed)
Institute for Territorial Studies (IET)
Evolutionary Biology Institute (IBE) (CSIC-UPF)
Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB)
Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM)
Mar Health Park
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
Pasqual Maragall - BarcelonaBeta Foundation
Centre for Environmental Epidemiology Research (CREAL)
Barcelona Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CMRB)
High Technology Institute – CRC
Barcelona Media – Innovation Centre
Business associates
Companies in the fields of social sciences and humanities, biomedicine and communication
and information technologies.
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1. institutional associates
Firstly, the project benefits from the support of the local and autonomous regional authorities
(Barcelona City Council and the Government of Catalonia). Ever since the university was founded,
both institutions have been closely involved with the urban development and planning of UPF.
Indeed, the preparation and development of the UPF campus has been essential to the progress of
Barcelona’s urban development projects since it has helped to lend a new lease of life to historic areas
of the city that were becoming run down (Ciutat Vella). It also contributed to promoting new areas
for creation and innovation (Villa Olímpica or the more recent 22@ district). On account of all
of these aspects, both of the aforementioned authorities have worked closely with the UPF on this
project.
2. University associates
UPF is supported by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and the 4 Universities Alliance
(A4U).
2.1 open University of catalonia
The open University of catalonia (Uoc) is a knowledge society-based institution whose mission
is to provide lifelong education. The UOC is a pioneer in virtual education by fostering intensive
use of the Internet and new technologies to overcome the hurdles of time and space and to provide
an educational model founded on customisation and comprehensive student backing. The virtual
education models offered by UOC are constantly undergoing change and are developing towards
ever more flexible learning models.
One of UOC’s main challenges is ensuring its teaching model encourages ongoing innovation in
new technologies in order to make the most of the benefits afforded by the current information age.
On the context of such progress UOC takes part in countless research and development cooperation
projects.
Similarly, at UOC the aim is to encourage the creativity of individuals and to contribute to the
advancement of society by promoting specialised research on the knowledge society and engaging
in alliances with universities and institutions from all over the world which have similar values and
goals. This will help to build a global knowledge environment.
UOC focuses most of the research activities conducted by its teaching and research staff on the ties
between digital information and communication technologies (ITCs) and the various social spheres.
The institution has three clearly distinguished areas of research. In terms of technology, the university focuses on software engineering projects, security in communication networks and grid computing – the field known as networking technologies. In addition, the university conducts studies on the
use of technology in educational environments as part of its e-learning sphere. Lastly, the institution
analyses the impact of these technologies on the various social fields, chiefly from sociological, economic, legal and political standpoints. This is the area that has been coined network society.
A major part of this research activity is conducted by two specific institutes: the internet interdisciplinary institute (in3) and the elearn center (elc).
The Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) conducts basic applied research activities in the fields
of network societies and networking technologies. There are currently 15 research groups at the
institute working on various projects and interdisciplinary activities. Three of these groups conduct
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research on technologies in the aforementioned fields and the remaining groups examine the impact
of ICTs in areas such as the health system, the education system, political processes and the public
authorities, law, immigration, gender and the new economy. In recent years the IN3 has embarked
on various programmes and initiatives in favour of the internationalisation of its activities with the
aim of substantially boosting the quality of the research it conducts as well as the global impact
it brings about. In particular, the visiting lecturers programme has been strengthened in order to
encourage the continued presence of renowned international researchers at the institute. Lastly, the
IN3 has been actively involved in setting up the first worldwide network of research centres on ITCs
and society.
The eLearn Center is the second of the UOC’s research centres that was set up recently. It conducts
research and innovation activities in the field of e-Learning. Six research groups currently operate at
the centre along with internationally acknowledged visiting researchers. Innovation and research are
key areas at the centre when it comes to tackling the three fundamental e-learning spheres: teaching and learning processes; educational policies, organization and management; and technological
resources for support to learning.
Furthermore, teaching staff assigned to the various university departments also carry out noteworthy
research activities in relation to their teaching duties. Several research groups work in fields such as
knowledge management, digital culture and communication in the information society.
Facts and figures (2008-2009 academic year):
• More than 54,000 students and 22,500 graduates
• More than 200 lecturers and 2300 collaborating professors
• In all, the UOC community includes more than 100,000 students, graduates, lecturers, researchers and collaborators in more than 87 countries
• 1274 courses divided into master’s degrees, postgraduate studies and extension programmes
• 2302 virtual classrooms
• Publications: more than 1,721,958 downloads of teaching material and articles from the Campus Virtual; 122 books released by the UOC publishing house (2008-2009) and 12,357 readers
subscribed to digital publications
• More than 125 companies are part of the UOC associated companies network that has signed
more than 600 agreements with universities, institutions and companies from around the world
• 86 research and innovation projects
• Scientific publications: 117 articles in scientific journals, 23 books published, 93 chapters in
books and 246 contributions to conferences
• 28 doctoral scholarship holders and 11 doctoral theses
joint Uoc-UpF cooperation projects:
Both universities will engage in projects in the field of teaching (benefitting from the online education experience of UOC to develop joint programmes in UPF’s three fields of knowledge) and in the
field of research (where cooperation will focus more on communication and information technologies, as well as the consideration of possible collaboration in social sciences).
in terms of teaching, UOC and UPF have already engaged in cooperation within the framework
of an educational model that combines face-to-face teaching with virtual education in a bimodal
format. During the 2009-2010 academic year, both universities offered the joint blended learning
programme for the university master’s degree in Teaching of Compulsory Secondary Education and
Baccalaureate, Professional Training and the Teaching of Languages. This year, given the success of
the programme (125 students with plans to expand the number of places to 150 for the forthcoming academic year), the aim is to consider extending this pilot project to bachelor’s degree studies.
Specifically, consideration is being given to adapting the model to the bachelor’s degree in Criminology and Public Prevention Policies taught at UPF in a face-to-face format which UOC could embark
on in an online format for the 2010-2011 academic year. A preliminary agreement has been signed
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with the Catalan Public Security Institute in order to extend this bachelor’s degree – with an ad hoc
speciality – to the ISPC’s own group, linked to a scholarship programme offered by the institute. The
aim is to gradually extend the range of joint bimodal programmes offered20.
Similarly, in terms of research, given the university’s commitment to society with regard to the output and sharing of knowledge, thus assuring the achievement of excellence in research, the strategic
alliance between UOC and UPF focuses on two projects.
Firstly, there will be greater scope for research cooperation in leading environments such as Barcelona Media technological centre, the Board of Trustees of which is chaired by UPF; the IN3 institute
for research (Internet Interdisciplinary Institute) attached to UOC; and, lastly, the research activities
and endeavours conducted in the departments and divisions of both universities (studies in communication and information sciences at UOC, the Department of Information and Communication
Technologies at UPF and other UPF departments linked to social sciences). It is worth highlighting
that the advantages of this cooperation would favour both institutions since they are spearheads in
the fields. An initial stage of cooperation has begun with the involvement of the scientific committee of IN3 which includes the participation of Dr Vicente López, professor of computing at the
UPF Department of Technology and director of Barcelona Media Innovation Centre and Dr Vicenç
Navarro, professor of political and social sciences at UPF. Moreover, cooperation is also underway on
joint IN3 – Barcelona Media research project coordinated by the IN3 research group.
Secondly, cooperation between both universities in the field of science is also giving rise to the
possibility of setting up a research centre on political and moral theory21. This centre, affiliated with
both universities, would host researchers from both institutions. Although talks and agreements are
still in very early stages, there is currently a draft plan for what this new research centre is likely
to be. Beyond doubt, the success of the Icària International project project would help to promote
the initiative.
2.2. 4 Universities alliance
The 4 Universities Alliance (A4U) was borne out of the desire on the part of the four universities
(the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Madrid, the Carlos III
University in Madrid and Pompeu Fabra University) to conduct joint projects.
A framework agreement from 2008 regulates this calling, and specific agreements are signed for each
individual project. This calling for teamwork led to the alliance being established in 2008 as an association and subsequently in May 2009 it was recorded in the national registry of associations.
joint cooperation projects
The A4U organises its activity for six independent working groups managed by a vice-rector at each
university (the last three group areas stated below are still being determined; therefore, they have not
yet carried out any specific activities):
• Academic career
• Research
• International relations
• Teaching
• Students
• University extension and gender equality policies
20. See action A13.
21. See action B2.
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academic career
The Academic career group seeks to foster mobility and employment integration for its doctors by
conducting two main activities:
• Annual call of 24 two-year post-doctoral placements22 that can be held at any one of the three
universities other than the doctor’s university of origin (to date, three calls have been announced
– in the first only 12 places were offered – and a total of 60 placements have been organised (15
by each university).
• The organisation of training actions to encourage the employment integration of this group (the
range of training to be offered is being defined).
Research
Under the auspices of this working group a joint office has been opened in Brussels (OPERA: the
Office for the Promotion of European Research Activities) and a joint assessment and transfer system
has been launched.
• The opeRa23 office has two main goals: furthering the interests of the universities in the A4U
in preparing and deciding on EU policies on R&D&I, as well as in preparing and deciding on
the EC working programmes to encourage R&D&I; and boosting the leadership profile and
involvement of A4U researchers in European programmes to encourage R&D&I in cooperation
with the European project offices of the universities in the A4U.
• A virtual office for the assessment and marketing of R&D&i results has been set up with the
aim of boosting critical mass and providing a forum for the exchange of experiences to foster the
marketing of the research results of the four universities. The actions envisaged include implementing a joint project to promote knowledge transfer in social sciences and humanities.
international relations
The signing of a specific agreement with the ICEX which jointly funds 50% of the activities planned
in order to promote joint international outreach activities24, has allowed the alliance to be present
in leading university forums in regions that constitute a geographical priority for UPF. In the coming
years, countries with which the alliance wishes to engage in joint institutional projects are Brazil and
Russia with a view to taking advantage of these emerging economies and their enormous potential,
particularly in the field of postgraduate studies and research. To date, the following activities have
been carried out, among others:
asia. UPF coordinated and moderated two sessions within the official programme of the APAIE
conference (Asia-Pacific Association for International Education) (Beijing, April 2009) showcasing
its scientific park model and its plan of action for multilingualism.
india. The alliance undertook a visit to the main higher education institutions and universities in
Delhi and Bangalore to identify cooperation projects.
Usa. A joint event was organised to present the A4U on the context of the NAFSA conference
(North American Association of International Educators) (Los Angeles, May 2009).
latin america. As a result of a visit made by UPF to Chile negotiations are underway for an agreement with Becas Chile scholarships to acknowledge the A4U universities as preferential institutions
in Spain. Through the scheme financial support would be given to students who want to follow
postgraduate studies. At the same time, and thanks to the organisation at UPF of the 1st Spanish/
Ibero-American Conference of Law Faculties (18 and 19 March 2010), an international association
for legal education was set up.
europe. Thanks to the organisation at UC3 of the One-Day Rectors’ Conference, the rectors in the
alliance had the opportunity to debate with five of their European counterparts on the strategies for
excellence being implemented in Europe, particularly when it comes to research.
22. See action B4.
23. See action B5.
24. See action A8.
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3. Urban development associate
3.1. 22@Barcelona project25
22@Barcelona is the largest urban, economic and social transformation project to be promoted by
Barcelona26 in recent years.
With a public infrastructure plan investment of 180 million euros and the mission of bringing a
major overhaul to industrial areas transforming them into a magnet for business, scientific, technological and cultural activity, 22@Barcelona entails the conversion of 200 hectares of industrial land
in the city centre (equivalent to 115 blocks in the Eixample district) into a zone with excellent infrastructure aimed at becoming a strategic hub for knowledge-based institutions and companies linked
to five key industries: the media, ICTs, MedTech, energy and design. Accordingly, the area around
22@Barcelona is also known as the innovation district.
main project specifications
• Area: 198.26 Ha (115 blocks)
• Dwellings: 4614 pre-existing dwellings. 4000 new state-subsidised dwellings will be built (25%
at least for rental)
• Green areas: 114,000 sq. m. of land
• New facilities: 145,000 sq. m. of land (10% of the land developed will be for public facilities)
• Infrastructure plan investment: 180 million euros
• Strategic industries: the media, ICTs, MedTech, energy and design
• 1502 businesses27 set up or being established (December 2009)
• Turnover: nigh on 6 billion euros (December 2009)
• 44,600 employees (December 2009)
• More than 70% of employees hold a university degree (December 2009)
a new urban model
22@Barcelona is a global project based on carrying out an overhaul of this old industrial area in
order to design a new comprehensive, integrative urban model that fits in with the new sustainable
economy. It involves creating a quality academic, scientific, enterprising and innovative environment
that is fully integrated into society and has international outreach.
To do so, 22@Barcelona encompasses three project areas (for urban, economic and social renewal) to
create an environment where the various agents linked to this economic model can coexist (universities, technologically-developed companies, continuing education centres and technology transfer and
research centres). With all these agents being brought together in the same setting it will be possible
to blend capacities and, accordingly, build on synergies to consolidate Barcelona’s image as a major
platform for innovation and the knowledge economy on an international level.
joint cooperation projects
Two goals lie behind the alliance between the Icària International project and its urban development
associate:
Firstly, it seeks to showcase the active role the university has always played in urban development
projects and plans to lend the city a new lease of life. Ever since UPF was founded in 1990, the
development of the university campus in Barcelona has led to the overhaul of areas that had been
suffering degradation (Ciutat Vella where the rector’s office and several UPF affiliated centres are lo25. This section generally sets out the (comprehensive integrative) urban model embodied in 22@Barcelona, the Icària International
urban development associate. However, the project has led to changes in the production model meaning that all the information on
this conversion is detailed in section G) Participation in a new sustainable economic model.
26. The project is managed by the municipal corporation 22 ARROBA BCN, S.A.U., set up by Barcelona City Council in 2000.
27. For an in-depth list of the institutions present see section G) Participation in a new sustainable economic model.
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cated) and it has also given rise to new hubs for creation and innovation (Villa Olímpica where UPF
has set up its teaching and research centres in social sciences and humanities and in biomedicine;
and more recently in the Poblenou neighbourhood, the location for studies on communication and
information technologies).
Secondly, as mentioned, on account of the fact that universities, companies, public organisations and
leading scientific and technological centres in the aforesaid five strategic industries are all brought
together in one single environment, new projects will arise to promote the competitiveness and
international outreach of the companies and institutions present, transforming them into driving
forces for the economic development of this new hub of production in Barcelona.
4. teaching associates: postgraduate platforms
In addition to four affiliated teaching centres and the university’s core continuing education institute
(IDEC)28, UPF currently benefits from two leading interuniversity postgraduate platforms with an
international calling whose activities are centred on social sciences and humanities:
• Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE)
• Barcelona Institute for International Studies (IBEI)
The involvement of these institutions in the project and their location at the UPF Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Park – the development of which is one of the principle actions of this
project – will make it possible to pool capacities (infrastructure and human resources) and thereby
increase synergies.
The close cooperation of these institutes on the project is based on the university model UPF seeks
to promote: a model founded on close ties between scientific research and teaching. As detailed in
the UPF25 YEARS Strategy, the university “strives to attain acknowledgment as a research-based
university and, with regard to teaching, it endeavours particularly to place emphasis on postgraduate
and doctoral studies” (Programme 1.1).
The active participation of both institutions in the Icària International project seeks to consolidate
UPF’s position as the leading postgraduate platform for social sciences and humanities in Barcelona29.
4.1 Barcelona graduate school of economics (Barcelona gse)
• An institution fostering scientific cooperation among the UPF Department of Economics and
Business, the UAB Unit of Economic Analysis, the CSIC Economic Analysis Institute and the
Research Centre for International Economics (CREI) with the aim of fostering research and
postgraduate studies of excellence in economics and social sciences at an international level.
• Promoted and chaired by Andreu Mas-Colell, Barcelona GSE seeks to establish itself as the
foremost non-Anglo-Saxon academic body in the world in terms of economics by blending three
vital elements: critical mass, internationality, and depth and impact in terms of excellence in
research.
• Ranking for scientific production: holds a position between the second and third place in the
European ranking of economics departments (Journal of the European Economic Association, May
2007).
• Excellence in research that addresses practically all sub-disciplines within the field of economics.
The researchers associated with the Barcelona GSE include fellows from the Econometric Society,
the European Economic Association and CEPR, to mention just a few of the scientific societies.
28. School of International Trade (ESCI); Elisava School of Design; University School of Business Studies of the Maresme (EUM);
Mar University School of Nursing (EUIM) and the Continuing Education Institute (IDEC) (see section A. Teaching and the EHEA).
29. See action A10.
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• International community: 145 affiliated professors – from the four participating institutions –
in a highly international community (there are natives of 20 different countries and 64 individuals were born outside Spain. Of all the professors, 63 obtained their PhDs in North-American
universities, 54 in universities in other European countries and 28 in Spanish universities).
• Internationally competitive range of postgraduate programmes: six master’s degree programmes
focussed on the labour market and research in economics, fully taught in English, for which
80% of students enrolled are foreign nationals.
Barcelona GSE is a key strategic alliance for UPF when it comes to developing postgraduate studies and
strengthening research in the field of economics and related areas. This is achieved thanks to the cooperation
of all the academic groups at the Icària International project. The ultimate goal of the school is to establish a
cluster that is at the forefront of the international stage for research and postgraduate studies in economics.
4.2 Barcelona institute for international studies (iBei)
• This interuniversity research institute is promoted by the Foundation Centre for International Documentation and Information in Barcelona (CIDOB) and it benefits from the participation of several
of the main Catalan universities in the field of social sciences (UPF, UAB, UB, UPC and UOC). It
was set up to promote advanced training and research in politics and international relations.
• The institute seeks to establish itself as a leading centre in the field of postgraduate teaching
in international studies. To do so, it is committed to maintaining its own core academic staff
formed by post-doctoral lecturers and researchers and to hiring visiting professors and other
scholars from various universities.
• Similarly, the IBEI has conducted a joint research programme with the involvement of researchers
from the universities and the institute’s own core research staff, largely funded through competitive
Spanish and European programmes (Ramón y Cajal, Juan de la Cierva, Marie Curie, ICREA, etc.).
• As a postgraduate school, the IBEI offers an interuniversity master’s degree in International
Relations (UPF-UAB-UB) which draws in many international students (65% of students were
foreign and came from 26 different countries during the 2009-2010 academic year).
• It also takes part in the Erasmus Mundus along with the University of York, the Hague Institute
of Social Studies and the Central European University in Budapest.
The strategic line of the IBEI unfolds in tandem with that of Pompeu Fabra. In the coming years it
plans to broaden the range of quality postgraduate studies offered with close links to research and
internationalisation. The institute will transfer its premises (currently in Ciutat Vella) to new buildings in the UPF Social Sciences and Humanities Research Park so it will share infrastructure and
resources with Barcelona GSE. This will enable UPF to build on (and showcase) the range of leading
postgraduate studies offered in this field.
4.3 continuing education institute (iDec)
• The Continuing Education Institute is a private foundation that was set up by UPF and a host
of leading companies and institutions to offer a wide range of university master’s degrees with an
exceptional level of training. This founding commitment has led to IDEC establishing a prominent standing for itself thanks to a range of postgraduate studies offered in line with the educational needs the market demands.
• Offerings are structured into several areas focussing on four themes: business (60% of the total),
public management/law, communication, and design and architecture (developed through the
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Elisava School of Design). General programmes are supplemented with tailored courses developed for and in conjunction with businesses in accord with their strategic goals.
• A clear international profile, with teaching staff and students from more than fifty countries.
In addition, the range of studies offered carry a major international component, mainly related
to the Mediterranean and Latin America and featuring double degree programmes and student
mobility schemes (MBA), but also noteworthy is the establishment of cooperation agreements
with prestigious universities in the USA.
The involvement in the project of IDEC – whose postgraduate education programmes focus on
professional training through master’s degrees and lifelong learning – helps the university to fulfil its
mission as a driving force for the economy and society.
In short, the programmes offered by IDEC in addition to the courses planned by the various departments and centres affiliated with UPF contribute to building a campus that actively participates in
the new sustainable economic model.
5. Research associates
The campus project also benefits from the unwavering support of countless research and transfer
centres helping to improve the university’s potential.
These centres – which sometimes host researchers from other universities – promote the presence
of UPF in highly specialist fields of research on the context of cross-border collaboration, achieving
international outreach and having a major impact nationally in economic and social terms.
5.1 scientific Research council (csic)
• This is a national agency fostering scientific research and technological development, attached to the
Ministry of Education and Science through the Secretariat of State of Universities and Research.
• Goal: promoting, coordinating, developing and disseminating scientific and technological research of a multidisciplinary nature in order to contribute to the advancement of knowledge and
to economic, social and cultural development, fostering staff training and providing advice for
public and private institutions operating in these fields.
CSIC and UPF have worked together to set up the Evolutionary Biology Institute (IBE), a mixed
institution jointly owned by both whose goal is to promote quality, multidisciplinary research aimed
at solving scientific problems in the field of evolutionary biology.
The IBE is an evolutionary biology research institute whose strategy has a twofold foundation: firstly,
it shall conduct research activity of excellence having international prominence and, secondly, it shall
promote the transfer of results and technology to society and the production sector.
This cooperation has five fundamental aims: 1) contributing to the advancement of research and
technological development in evolutionary biology, including functional genomics and biodiversity
studies; 2) training research staff and supporting the postgraduate teaching offered by UPF; 3) coordinating general and instrumental services to make efficient use of resources; 4) working with the public
authorities and contributing to progress in industry through knowledge transfer and the transfer of
research results; and 5) encouraging relations with other national and international centres.
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5.2 Research centre for international economics (cRei)
• Directed by Jordi Galí, this centre seeks to establish itself as a high-level research institution, fully
integrated into the network of leading centres worldwide in its field of specialisation.
• The quality of its researchers has been clearly certified by the two starting grants and the two
advanced grants obtained from the ERC thus far (as of July 2010).
• Main research lines: macroeconomics (growth, economic cycles, monetary economics, macroeconometrics) and international economics (trade, international finance) under the umbrella of
a theoretical and empirical approach.
• Strategic goals:
• To attain excellence in scientific output: the research conducted by the centre must generate new knowledge having an internationally recognized impact both in academic terms and
with regard to the design of economic policy, when relevant. Generally speaking, this new
knowledge results in articles published in specialised journals.
• To foster quality economic research in Catalonia.
• To promote ties with the international scientific community and to strengthen the image of
Catalonia as a catalyst for the knowledge society.
The participation of the CREI in the Icària International project is another example of the potential
of the project in terms of internationalisation when it comes to social sciences and humanities, both
in the centre’s capacity as a leading research centre for studies on international economic policy and
development, and with regard to its ability to improve and strengthen the range of postgraduate
studies offered.
5.3 Research centre for mediterranean economies (cRemed)
• Barcelona GSE and the European Institute of the Mediterranean joined forces in 2008 to promote
quality economic research on development, especially in relation to the Mediterranean region.
• The centre is directed by José García Montalvo, director of the UPF Department of Economics,
and it is also supported by Barcelona Development Research Group.
• Several research lines are tackled, including structural reforms and economic growth in Mediterranean countries; the influence of the institutional framework and capacity building on
economic development in the region; and several issues relating to energy and the environment
addressed from an economic standpoint (water, food safety, energy cooperation, migration, etc.).
CREMed’s contribution to the project will make it possible to promote cooperation among economic research centres in the Mediterranean wishing to conduct empirical and theoretical research,
thereby encouraging academic dialogue and networking.
5.4 institute for territorial studies (iet)
• A consortium with its own legal status formed by the Government of Catalonia (the Department
of Territorial Planning and Public Works) and Pompeu Fabra University.
• This institute identifies and resolves problems in terms of territorial planning while fulfilling its
mission to support the public authorities in their day-to-day activities, both with regard to territorial planning in Catalonia and their involvement in international, cross-border projects.
• The three main lines of action are as follows:
• Territorial information: compiling, processing and analysing data of a social, economic,
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urban planning, infrastructure-related and environmental nature having a bearing on the
setting, as well as territorial planning in order to establish itself as a benchmark centre of
guidance in this field.
• Territorial planning: defining goals in terms of territorial balance which are useful in order
to directly contribute to work included in the territorial planning programme of the Department of Territorial Planning and Public Works of the Government of Catalonia, as well as
contributing to other institutions with territorial planning authority.
• Territorial strategy: preparation of proposals and strategies for reflection on the current situation, trends and challenges of a territorial nature affecting Catalonia and the larger regions it
forms part of.
Thanks to its specialisation in territorial planning and the urban setting, the IET contributes a unique
perspective to a project such as the Icària International seeking to bring together its urban, academic
and economic project in the same setting: the 22@Barcelona innovation district.
5.5 Barcelona Biomedical Research park (pRBB)
• A joint initiative of the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council and UPF led to the
launch in 2006 of this park in order to become one of the largest cores for biomedical research in
Southern Europe.
• Physically connected to the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona and brings together closely coordinated public research centres.
• Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University (CEXS-UPF)
• Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM)
• Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
• Barcelona Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CMRB)
• Centre for Environmental Epidemiology Research (CREAL)
• High Technology Institute (IAT)
• Hospital del Mar (IMAS)
• Technological platforms:
• Spanish National Genotyping Centre (CEGEN)
• Spanish National Bioinformatics Institute (INB)
• Antidoping Laboratory of Catalonia (IMIM)
• Spanish National Proteomics Institute (Proteored)
• Total annual expenditure on research: 70 million euros.
• Critical mass of 1,200 individuals from 50 countries. More than 100 research groups with prominent international researchers (30% from abroad). More than 600 scientific articles published in
international journals during 2008.
• Groups at the forefront of their fields, with connections to such institutions as Harvard, Salk and
EMBL.
• Main fields of research: bioinformatics and systems biology, epigenetic and gene regulation,
development and cell biology (including regenerative medicine), pharmacology and clinical
pathophysiology, human genetics and evolutionary biology, and epidemiology and public health.
The PRBB fosters scientific coordination among its participating centres and institutes in order to
promote the highest levels of competitiveness, to achieve scientific excellence and to ensure that the
results and applications of its research activities have the greatest impact on society, thereby encouraging
relationships with related industries and the creation of or participation in new business initiatives.
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5.6 municipal institute of medical Research (imim)
• It operates under the auspices of UPF and is attached to Mar Health Park and since 2006 has
been located in the PRBB.
• It has more than 350 researchers among hired and collaborating staff (including clinical researchers from the Hospital del Mar, the Hospital de la Esperanza and the Fórum Centre).
• Its multidisciplinary programmes are organised around five main themes: cancer, epidemiology and public health, cardiovascular and inflammatory processes, biomedical computing and
neuropsychopharmacology.
• The IMIM-Hospital del Mar is the Spanish health research centre that conducts the greatest
proportion of scientific works in international cooperation and its numerous annual indexed
publications place it in a privileged position in the national rankings of centres with the highest
research output in biomedicine.
The involvement of the IMIM and the participation of its researchers in the Icària International
project are key elements in two of the fundamental objectives of the project: to develop basic applied
research in the field of biomedicine and health sciences and to widen the range of doctoral, postgraduate and specialised studies offered. On a broader level, it constitutes an additional component
in the interdisciplinary and inter-institutional structure whose goal is to improve both scientific and
informational exchange and institutional cooperation in the area of research.
5.7 mar Health park
• MAR Health Park Consortium in Barcelona replaced the Municipal Healthcare Institute in
February 2010 (IMAS) when it comes to providing public healthcare services. The IMAS was a
major component among the UPF campus strategic associates for the 2009 call, and Mar Health
Park has renewed its involvement for this call.
• This organisation offers a broad portfolio of healthcare services covering all levels of care: acute
care, medical and social care, mental health and first aid.
• The Hospital del Mar is the main healthcare unit within the institution offering a complete range
of medical services (in the districts of Ciutat Vella and Sant Martí) as well as tertiary activity. The
hospital is currently undergoing expansion and has 400 regular beds, 20 intensive care beds, 35
outpatient places, 21 multipurpose emergency booths, 69 clinics, 21 diagnosis offices, 10 operating theatres and 2 birthing rooms.
• The research activity is coordinated in conjunction with the IMIM and has among the highest
yields in Spain in terms of research output, despite its relatively small size.
• In terms of university education, especially noteworthy are studies in Medicine (2008-2009)
jointly offered by UAB and UPF which are fully adapted to the EHEA; studies in Human Biology at UPF and the Mar University School of Nursing (attached to UPF). In addition there is
also the UAB’s medical teaching unit, Vocational Health Training (Escuela Bonanova) and a
MIR programme, which covers virtually all medical and surgical specialities.
The participation of this institute in the Icària International project makes it possible to promote,
manage and disseminate research in the field of health sciences within the framework of calls for proposals which are specific to healthcare research institutes. With this aim in mind, relations and the exchange of knowledge between researchers, research groups and scientific and technical services will be
promoted and strengthened, with priority going to international projects having an effect on clinical
activity. The various forms of management applied at the park and the development of technological
and strategic alliances with other centres in the city and in Catalonia at large mean that this associate
plays a fundamental role in fostering enterprising business policies in the health sector.
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5.8 centre for genomic Regulation (cRg)
• A centre for basic biomedical research set up on the initiative of the former Department of
Universities, Research and the Information Society (DURSI) with the participation of the Department of Health of the Government of Catalonia, Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and the
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN).
• It has operated under a system of public funding since 2008.
• Its research focus is biomedicine, especially in the fields of genomics and proteomics. The research
activity is grouped into three areas: epigenetics, computational biology and illness genetics.
• It has 293 researchers under the direction of Miguel Beato, an internationally recognised scholar
in the field.
• The quality of its researchers is certified by the starting grants and the advanced grant obtained
from the ERC thus far (as of July 2010).
• Its knowledge transfer has been attested to in the form of eleven patent applications and the creation of a spin-off (qGenomics).
The goal of the CRG is to become an international leader in the development of genomic research,
with a special focus on the human genome. The CRG participates in UPF’s doctoral programmes in
the fields in which it carries out research and it collaborates in the teaching of bachelor’s and postgraduate courses as well as with dissertation supervision.
5.9 evolutionary Biology institute (iBe) (csic-UpF)
• A research institute set up by the Scientific Research Council (CSIC) and UPF in 2008.
• Its goals include studying the processes and mechanisms involved in the generation of biological
diversity, with the aim of analysing the genetic basis for differences (between species and within
each species), placing particular emphasis on how these differences are established and transmitted, and how they interact with the environment.
• It is provisionally located at the premises of the CMIMA (Mediterranean Marine and Environmental Centre) and of the PRBB institutes.
• The strength of the IBE lies in its ability to examine these phenomena on different scales of
observation: morphology, physiology and genomics. To do so, it has four research programmes
(animal phylogeny and systematics; computational genomics; functional evolution in insects and
genetics) and some fifteen research groups coordinated by Xavier Bellés and Jaume Bertranpetit.
The Evolutionary Biology Institute (IBE) makes it possible to coordinate the participation of the
CSIC in the Icària International project in order to conduct specific quality multidisciplinary research projects in the field of evolutionary biology.
The participation of the IBE is based on a strategy that rests on two major pillars: first, internationally-recognised excellence in research; and, second, the promotion of transfer of results and technology
to society and the production sector.
In academic terms, this participation will also involve the training of research staff and the support
of postgraduate teaching conducted on the campus. Its future location in the Icària-I multidisciplinary building will facilitate cooperation with the experimental economics group with which it has
already embarked on research into human genetic architecture in socio-economic terms, covering
aspects such as risk preferences, altruism and strategic behaviour.
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5.10 pasqual maragall - BarcelonaBeta Foundation
• Set up in 2008, the foundation works to promote scientific research of excellence in areas relating to Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders, basing part of its strategy on
establishing alliances with leading international centres.
• The director of the foundation is Jordi Camí, a UPF professor and director general of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB), the scientific infrastructure that houses the headquarters
of the foundation.
• The foundation has received initial support from 17 companies and institutions which make up
its Board of Sponsors.
• The foundation’s research activity will be carried out at BarcelonaBeta (Barcelona Research
Complex for Better Aging), a scientific complex of 30,000 sq. m. that will be operational by the
end of 2012. In addition to studying the diagnosis, treatment and cure of Alzheimer’s disease
and other neurodegenerative disorders, its researchers will be attempting to discover solutions to
cognitive problems associated with aging. To achieve this, the publicly and privately funded complex will be structured into two main areas: the Pasqual Maragall Research Institute (conducting
programmes on transformational research, early diagnosis and development and innovation) and
the Memory Clinic (with a diagnosis, clinical research and neuroimaging unit).
The incorporation of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation into the Icària International project will allow strategic alliances to be set up between private initiatives and research programmes related to the prevention
and cure of Alzheimer’s, creating a research centre of excellence focussed on diagnosis, care and innovation.
5.11 centre for environmental epidemiology Research (cReal)
• A joint initiative by the Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM-Hospital del Mar),
Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and the Government of Catalonia (2005) in order to promote
and develop advanced epidemiological research on environmental factors affecting human health
in order to prevent and control the adverse effects.
• Its research focus is the study of respiratory diseases, cancer and environmental pollutants in
children’s health (a key international sphere of research).
• 32 researchers conduct activities at the centre under the auspices of director Josep M. Antó.
• The centre has inherited the Environmental and Respiratory Research Unit (URRA) of the IMIM.
The CREAL offers a top quality research environment for work in the field of biomedicine and, following the philosophy of the Icària International project, places the individual at the core of its research.
5.12 Barcelona centre for Regenerative medicine (cmRB)
• This is an initiative for scientific cooperation between the Department of Health of the Government of Catalonia and the Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII) of the Spanish Ministry of
Science and Innovation (2004).
• Its research focus is the field of stem cells, regeneration and embryonic development, cooperating
on cutting-edge projects with the Salk Institute, and with the universities of Harvard, Cambridge, Tokyo and Kobe, among others.
• Directed by Juan Carlos Izpisua, the centre has 66 researchers who are developing cutting-edge
research in the area of regenerative medicine.
• Knowledge transfer has resulted in one patent.
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With a team of researchers with major international standing, the CMRB establishes ties among the
various scientific fields operating within the UPF campus and allows for the development of leading
research projects nationally and internationally.
5.13 High technology institute – cRc
• The High Technology Institute (IAT) is a private foundation which, along with the Mar Health
Park, the IDIBAPS and the Hospital Vall d’Hebron, participates in research projects developed
by scientific teams based in the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park. CRC Corporación Sanitaria
is committed to early detection techniques and preventive medicine for common illnesses such as
prostate cancer, colon cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
• The group is formed by thirteen companies which together manage twenty diagnosis services
in public and private clinics and hospitals, and it has the largest team in Catalonia in its area
of speciality with a total of 640 employees, 130 of which are specialist doctors in radiology and
nuclear medicine.
The integration of the IAT into the group of strategic associates makes it possible to offer the
scientific community and the pharmaceutical industry positron emission tomography (PET) and
magnetic resonance-based molecular imaging services. The participation of the IAT ranges from
basic research to preclinical and clinical development.
5.14 Barcelona media – innovation centre
• A joint initiative by the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona City Council and Pompeu Fabra
University to set up an area for research and cooperation between the business and academic sectors in the field of media covering some 7,000 sq. m. in order to improve the competitiveness of
businesses in the sector.
• Located at Barcelona Media Park, this is the first Spanish technology centre offering comprehensive services in all areas of the media sector (ranging from content to technology). This is thanks
to the contribution on the project of other academic institutions (Open University of Catalonia,
La Salle) and leading private companies in the industry (Alcatel, Anima Graphics, Fairplay Films,
Grup Godó, Indra, Lavinia, Mediaplanning Group, Telefónica, T-Systems and TVC Multimedia).
• The centre promoted the establishment of the Barcelona Media Innovative Business Association,
the scope of which will be expanded in order to allow production companies to enhance dealings
with the respective institutions enabling them to improve their competitiveness.
This centre brings together business and academics, helping the university to transfer knowledge to
society and raise the competitiveness of companies in the sector.
In addition, the centre also embodies all areas of the media industry (UPF offers comprehensive
education through its three departments: Information and Communication Technologies; Communication; and Translation and Language Sciences) meaning that the projects carried out cover a wide
range of spheres: animation, film, publishing houses, editorials, videogames, discography, press and
radio, theme parks, advertising and television.
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6. Business associates
UPF has built on close ties with companies and institutions that help the university to carry out
its teaching, research and transfer activities. These relationships go beyond merely entering into
contracts for projects or the development of joint projects; rather, they entail ongoing participation
in defining future proposals. For instance, company representatives (appointed by the UPF Board of
Trustees) are present on all committees that have drawn up the new university syllabi.
We should also draw attention to other means of cooperation, such as the ties stemming from the
existence of the Board of Trustees Business Forum; the formation of the Boards of Trustees of the
institutions comprising the strategic group (IDEC, BGSE, Barcelona-Media, etc.); companies participating on the advisory boards for certain faculties; company chairs, or the active presence of these
companies in employment exhibitions promoted by the UPF each year (UPFeina).
Below is a list of the companies and institutions with which UPF holds ongoing cooperation activities, grouped according to academic area:
communication and information technologies
Alcatel; Alpi; Apuntolapospo; Asimelec; Barcelona Digital Centro Tecnológico; Corporació Catalana
de Mitjans Audiovisuals; Grupo Planeta; Grupo Godó; Grupo RBA; Havas Media; Hewlett-Packard
España; IBM; Indra; La Vanguardia; Lavinia; Mediapro; Microsoft; Productors Audiovisuals de Catalunya; Radiotelevisión Española; Secartys; Sogecable S.A.; Sony España; Telefónica; TVC Multimedia; Vodafone; Yahoo España.
Biomedicine
Bayer España, S.L.; Cruz Roja Catalunya; Ferrer Grupo; Fundación Grífols i Lucas; Laboratorios Dr.
Esteve S.A.; MC Mutual; Novartis Pharma; Prous Science; Sanofi-Aventis.
law firms
Accenture; Cap Gemini; Centro de Estudios Monetarios; Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira; Deloitte
España; Echevarria y Asociados Asesores S.L.; Ernst & Young España; Garrigues Abogados y Asesores Tributarios; Grupo Mercados Financieros; IOR Consulting S.A.; KPMG Internacional; M.C.
Asociados; PriceWaterHouseCoopers España; Bufete Roca Junyent.
Financial institutions
Banc Sabadell; Bancaja; Caixa Catalunya; Caixa Manresa; Grupo Santander; La Caixa.
other sectors
Abertis Infraestructuras, S.A.; ADIF; AGBAR; Agencia de Patrocinio y Mecenazgo; Autoritat Portuària de Barcelona; Barcelona Activa; Bonpreu S.A.U.; Cámara de Comercio de Barcelona; Chupa
Chups; Codorniu; Corporación Agrolimen S.A.; Consorcio Zona Franca de Barcelona; Ercros; FemCAT (Fundación Privada de Empresarios); Fira de Barcelona; Futbol Club Barcelona; Grupo Damm;
Grupo Nutrexpa; Henkel Ibérica S.A.; Racef (Real Academia de Ciencias Económicas y Financieras;
RACC (Real Automóvil Club de Cataluña); Reckitt Benckiser; Sara Lee; Seat; Siemens; Unilever.
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F
inteRnationalisation
0. introduction
internationalisation: a measure of excellence at UpF
In recent years, UPF has earned a prominent international profile and outreach thanks to the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Teaching staff with an international profile
Research having international outreach
Quality doctoral programmes
Joint degrees and projects with other universities
Unhindered incorporation of English in the teaching programmes offered
Postgraduate studies having excellent quality at international level
Students from a wide range of backgrounds
Heightened level of international mobility
Presence in leading international academic forums
The privileged position held by the university since it was founded has been essential when it comes to:
• attracting and securing the loyalty of talent
• Consolidating UPF’s leadership quality in keeping with a campus of international excellence
On account of a founding commitment, which is again given new impetus through the university
strategy looking ahead to 2015, UPF deems the internationalisation of knowledge to be one of its
five central goals.
internationalisation of knowledge: designing a global strategy to enable the university to attain
the international presence, structure and standing befitting a university that provides teaching and
research of such a high quality.
Goal 4. UPF25 YEARS Strategy
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This section sets out the main indicators of the university’s internationalisation:
• Internationality of teaching and research staff
• A broad, increasing range of mobility options
• A welcoming host university for international students
• Students from a wide range of backgrounds
• A multilingual range of teaching options
• Promotion of joint degrees
Nonetheless, it is worth drawing attention to the fact that, in line with the CEI 2010 instructions, all
the information regarding the establishment of national and international knowledge and innovation alliances and networks – which allow the university to take part in strategic projects and/or to
engage in networking with other institutions – can be seen in section H) Alliances and networks.
1. an international team of teaching staff and researchers
Teaching and research staff come from a broad range of international backgrounds owing to the university’s specific efforts to attract and recruit talent. The recruitment policy adopted by departments
has led to an increasing number of foreign individuals being hired whilst the number of nationals
with training abroad who return to UPF has also risen.
indicators of the level of internationalisation of teaching staff
• Top Spanish university in the THES world ranking (Times Higher Education Supplement) in
the indicator “International faculty” (2009).
• 15% of teaching and research staff are foreign nationals (2009).
• 25% of research assistants are foreign nationals (2009).
• 40% of teaching and research staff have prior experience or education from overseas (2009).
In addition, teaching and research staff take part in countless mobility initiatives for teaching and
research, either by undertaking short stays, by being involved in research projects or by assigning
lecturers to conduct education programmes specific to UPF or jointly with other institutions.
2. a wide range of quality mobility options encouraging students
to gain international experience
UPF has developed collaborative ties leading to a broad catalogue of mobility placements for its students who, by and large, have availed themselves of this opportunity to supplement their education
becoming ambassadors for UPF abroad.
The International Relations Service has taken full advantage of the opportunities offered by the Erasmus programme in Europe and it has forged a network of universities of excellence in North and South
America and in Asia Pacific. This has led to a host of bilateral agreements being signed and a highly
diverse range of mobility options being offered in terms of destinations, study options and profiles.
Similarly, the university hopes to continue to foster the quality of these international experiences (for
both incoming and outgoing students)30.
30. See action A6.
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indicators of international mobility
• 280 mobility agreements with foreign universities (2010-2011 academic year).
• 1000 exchange places offered (2010-2011 academic year).
• International mobility support scholarship programme (2009-2010 academic year): 75 UpF
scholarships and 386 erasmus scholarships granted.
As a result of this wealth of places offered, 709 academic placements and internships were granted
in europe (an increase of 33% over the 2009-2010 academic year). Placements will mainly be taken
in Europe, although places are available in Asia and America as a result of the increasing demand for
places and changes in the call making it possible to fill as many places as possible. This figure may
increase further on account of mobility between Spanish universities and Erasmus internships.
erasmus mundus. UPF secured an Erasmus Mundus project in 2009. The project is eRacol,
erasmus-columbus, which provides scholarships for mobility in the field of health sciences between
Europe and three countries in Latin America: Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama. The project is
spearheaded by the Dutch Erasmus Rotterdam University and envisages organising and funding up
to 139 mobility placements for bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, doctoral and postgraduate students
along with teaching staff.
Diagram IV. Map of international relations
CANADA
British Columbia,
Montreal, Toronto,
Simon Fraser...
Alliance 4 Universities
(UAM, UAB, UC3, UPF)
USA (Ivy League)
Boston College, Bentley,
Harvard, Pennsylvania,
Richmond, Pittsburgh...
USA & Canada
NYU
40 universities
MEXICO
Tec de Monterrey
ITAM, El Colegio
ARGENTINA
Torcuato di Tella...
BRAZIL
Getulio Vargas, USP
CHILE
Diego Portales,
Pontifícia Católica...
ETC.
TOTAL: 341 agreements
América Latina
64 universities
JAPAN
TUFS, Keio
Maastricht Group
(Maastricht, Warwick, Dublin, Mannheim,
CEU Budapest, UPF, Toulouse)
Europa
203 universities
+ Spain(24)
Austria
Vienna
Germany
Freie Berlin, Humboldt
Berlin, Munich, Konstanz...
Belgium
Libre Bruxelles, Katholieke
Leuven...
Denmark
Aarhus, Copenhagen,
Roskilde...
Finland
Helsinki...
France
ENSAE, Sciences Po,
Pierre et Marie Curie,
Toulouse...
SINGAPUR
Singapore Management
University
Asia
8 universities
Netherlands
Maastricht, Amsterdam,
Utrecht...
Italy
Bocconi, Roma III, Roma
La Sapienza, Bologna,
Trento…
Portugal
Nova de Lisboa
United Kingdom
Oxford, Warwick, King’s
College, Saint Andrews...
Sweden
Stockholm...
Switzerland
Zurich, Geneva...
Turkey
THAILAND
Chulangkorn
CHINA
City University i The
Chinese University a
Hong Kong
KOREA
Seoul National, Korea
University
Australia
4 universities
AUSTRALIA
Adelaide, New South
Wales, Queensland...
250 concerning student exchange
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Although mobility percentages over the total number of students vary each year, there has been a general increase year-by-year in the number of graduates who have been on a placement away from UPF.
UpF student mobility indicators
• Position 113 in the ranking of European universities according to the official figures of the Erasmus programme for the indicator “outgoing students” in absolute terms (2007-08).
• 29.83% of graduates during the year undertook a placement away from UPF (2008-2009 academic year).
• 5.58% of UPF students on mobility (2009-2010 academic year).
These indicators have made UPF a leading university, in relative terms, when it comes to mobility,
lending its graduates a prominent level of prospects for the national and international job market
and in pursuing their education abroad.
3. a host university for international mobility students
Demand from students worldwide to undertake a period of study or to follow a research placement
at UPF has continued to grow over the years. This huge level of demand has also led to the creation
of a new visiting student profile for those who are unable to join exchange programmes.
Three aspects have given rise to UPF being a leading host university (in relative terms):
• It offers privileged learning and research environments with a high number of international
teaching staff and students.
• The studies offered are tailored according to language level, accessible and integrative when it
comes to receiving international students with highly varied profiles.
• A reception, guidance and welcome programme is commenced even before the student’s arrival
and it continues to operate until students return to their home institutions, thereby providing
them support in all aspects of their stay.
international student mobility indicators
• Position 82 in the ranking of European figures according to official figures from the Erasmus
programme for the indicator “incoming students” in absolute terms (2007-2008 academic year).
• Almost 16% of UPF students are on mobility schemes (2009-2010 academic year).
This 16% includes exchange students who come to UPF drawn by its quality as well as 900 students
on the Study Abroad Programme. This programme is fully integrated into the university. This enables students to follow regular subjects and supplement their education with an ad hoc interdisciplinary programme: the Hispanic and European Studies Programme.
The Hispanic and european studies programme (peHe)
The PEHE is intended to provide greater insight into the varying realities that coexist in Barcelona:
the city feeds on its unique Catalan identity, it is nurtured through its historical attachment to the
Mediterranean and it also forms part of Spain and engages in transatlantic relations. What is more,
the city is also party to European integration and is a cultural melting pot. This background and
context is conveyed through specifically designed subjects with an interdisciplinary approach. The
programme covers Catalan, Hispanic and European studies. The teaching is given in Spanish and
English and is supported by lecturers from the various faculties of the university (Health and Life
Sciences, Humanities, Philology, Communication, Law, Business), with particular emphasis on
learning Spanish.
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4. students with a wide range of origins
The policy for drawing in students varies depending on the cycle:
Bachelor’s degrees: priority is lent to drawing in local and national students (in line with the university’s duty as a State education institution) even though 8% of students at degree level stem from
other education systems while 4% are foreign nationals.
postgraduate studies: the university strategy with regard to postgraduate studies is focussed on attracting and securing excellence by conducting a heightened, albeit selective policy of promotion overseas
(showcasing the university and provoking interest surrounding the master’s degrees and doctoral studies
offered). The admissions office filters transcripts prior to selecting the best candidates. At the end of the
process, these programmes show that other nationalities are widely represented in the classroom.
indicators of internationalisation on postgraduate studies
• 37% of students on official master’s degrees have undertaken prior education in systems
outside Spain.
• 34% of students on official master’s degrees are foreign nationals.
• 46% of doctoral students are foreign nationals.
• 43% PhD qualifications awarded are for researchers with prior education in systems outside Spain.
5. a multilingual range of studies offered along with
newly-established joint degrees
5.1. multilingual teaching offered
The university has gradually been incorporating English as a teaching language thanks to international teaching staff, though not to the detriment of the range of studies offered in Catalan and
Spanish. Indeed, the number of subjects taught in English at bachelor’s degree level is increasing
(although at varying rates depending on the faculty). At postgraduate level, programmes are prepared
to be fully taught in English.
indicators of the use of english in teaching
• 7% of theory class hours in English at bachelor’s degree level (2009-2010 academic year).
• One bachelor’s degree: International Business Economics, taught entirely in English (2009-2010
academic year).
• 8 master’s degrees taught entirely in English and 16 use English combined with Catalan and/or
Spanish (out of a total of 24 official master’s degrees, 2009-2010 academic year).
• All doctoral studies can be conducted in English.
Consequences:
• This encourages the internationalisation of local students in their own setting who are familiarised with the use of English and can improve their skills in the language.
• This increases the number of international students attracted to UPF and admitted to the university who are less familiar with the local language upon their arrival (without overlooking learning
of Spanish and Catalan undertaken by them at the same time).
Moreover, the plan of action for multilingualism31 (PAM) acknowledges English as a working
language at UPF enabling students and lecturers to use English to communicate. Accordingly, both
the university and the classroom mirror the students’ and lecturers’ varied backgrounds.
31. See action A5.
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5.2 Double and joint degrees
Double and joint degrees, which may include jointly supervised PhD theses, are organised in conjunction with other universities; therefore, this section sums up the universities initiatives in this
regard. For further details, please see section H) Alliances and networks.
It is worth highlighting the increasing range of double degrees offered in conjunction with other European universities, illustrating the extent to which UPF has engaged in relations with other chiefly
European higher education institutions.
Double degrees
• Master in European Government (Konstanz-UPF)
• Master in Bioinformatics (Bologna-UPF)
• International Master in Biomedicine (UPMC-UPF)
Moreover, UPF currently offers two Erasmus Mundus master’s programmes and it submitted three
draft master’s degree and doctoral studies programmes to the 2010 call, building on the double
degrees already offered.
erasmus mundus master’s
• Master Program in Public Policy, MAPP (IBEI-CEU Budapest-ISS The Hague, Univ. of York)
(coordinator: IBEI).
• Master in Learning and Teaching of Spanish in Multilingual and International Contexts, MULTIELE (Deusto-UB-UPF-Univ.Groningen-Univ.Estocolmo-Freie Univ.Berlin- Univ. Iceland)
(coordinator: Deusto).
erasmus mundus projects submitted to the 2010 call
• Master in Europeanisation, EMME (Erasmus Mundus Master of Arts in Europeanisation): Konstanz, Siena, Essex, UPF (Konstanz-Siena-Essex-UPF).
• Master in Bioinformatics (Bologna-Helsinki-UPF).
• Joint PhD Program on Sound and Music Computing (Padova-Royal Institute of Techn. Stockholm, Queen Mary Univ. of London-UPF).
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g
paRticipation in a sUstainaBle
economic moDel
0. introduction
a spearhead of innovation to transform the economic model
UPF has been actively involved in urban development and overhaul projects in the city which have
been carried out ever since the institution was founded in 1990. This involvement is also demonstrated by UPF’s participation in the 22@Barcelona project, an excellent example of a change of economic
model brought about by the transition from the industrial economy to the knowledge economy. In
line with a sustainable economic model, the project is conceived as a new city model to promote:
• Excellent quality
• Greater ecological efficiency
• A balance between neighbourhood life and business, scientific, technological and university
activities
This new urban model entails three renewal projects (for urban, economic and social renewal) in
order to achieve the following goals:
• Addressing the new challenges brought about by the knowledge society.
• Establishing Barcelona as a major platform for innovation and the knowledge economy on the
international stage.
The public infrastructure plan investment for the project stands at 180 million euros with the aim
of having a positive effect on:
• The change in the production model by transforming some 200 hectares of industrial area into
a hub for business, scientific, technological and cultural activity.
• Five strategic sectors (the media, ITCs, MedTech, energy and design); hence, 22@Barcelona is
also known as the innovation district.
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1. a new urban model
The starting block for the 22@Barcelona project was to carry out a major overhaul of a former industrial area (the Poblenou neighbourhood, the driving force behind Catalonia and the epitome of a
Barcelona industrial neighbourhood for more than 100 years) in order to design a new urban model
that would entail renewal on three levels (in urban, economic and social terms). Indeed, this urban
project is a shining example of the change in economic model brought about by the transition at the
turn of the 21st century from the industrial economy to the knowledge economy. The aim is to create a quality academic, scientific and enterprising environment that is integrated into society and has
an international calling.
The role of the icària international project in the 22@ is essential because, once again, the university’s involvement in the urban regeneration project goes beyond carrying out certain actions with
respect to the local area: the university is conceiving and creating an urban setting in line with
a new quality model that strikes a balance between the new activities of the production sector
and the university and neighbourhood life.
in this comprehensive setting – where production centres operate alongside universities, research
centres, continuing education centres and technology transfer agents - the UpF campus conducts
its teaching, research and transfer activities in accordance with the leading role taken on by the
university as part of the new economic model. Similarly, the location of key agents in this new
model in the same area encourages synergies and, accordingly, ensures that an extensive network of
highly qualified human capital is available whilst fostering cooperation between research teams and
the companies located in 22@. The increasing rate at which new companies are being set up in the
22@ district with the creation of job opportunities calling for high qualifications is one of the possible factors in coming out of one of the most severe economic downturns in the last seventy years.
2. main characteristics of the project
2.1 Urban renewal
22@Barcelona envisions a new urban model for strategically bringing together knowledge-intense
businesses and institutions linked to five strategic sectors (the media, ICTs, MedTech, energy and
design).
main project specifications
• Area: 198.26 Ha (115 blocks)
• Dwellings: 4614 pre-existing dwellings. 4000 new state-subsidised dwellings will be built (25%
at least for rental)
• Green areas: 114,000 sq. m. of land
• New facilities: 145,000 sq. m. of land (10% of the land developed will be for public facilities)
• Infrastructure plan investment: 180 million euros
As the following map shows, the UPF campus is spread out across the entire innovation district
and, by being involved in the project, it is helping to establish a hub for knowledge and innovation,
thereby consolidating Barcelona’s position as a key platform for innovation and the knowledge
economy on the international stage.
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2.2 a project for economic renewal
On a context that encompasses all the activities of the agents working to foster a change in the
production model, the Icària International project is forging its duties as an institution for basic and
applied research by conducting projects and initiatives in cooperation with the private sector. This
cooperation will make it possible to increase the competitiveness of the business fabric and, accordingly, will have a positive effect on the quality of life of citizens.
Set out below are some of the indicators attesting to the economic strength of the project:
economic indicators32
• 1502 companies set up (an increase of 4.2% over 2008).
• 75% of companies in the district operate in knowledge and technology intensive sectors. The
percentage for Catalonia as a whole stands at 58%.
• 1 in every 2 companies (54%) is part of or linked to one of the five clusters in the 22@
Barcelona district.
• 1 in every 4 companies conducts R&D activities. ITCs and medical technologies are the two
strategic sectors in which most companies operate (4 in every 10).
• Turnover: nigh on 6 billion euros (an increase of 5.4%).
• 44,600 employees (an increase of 5.6%).
• More than 70% of employees hold a university degree.
32. According to the “22@Barcelona: 10 years of growth” study conducted by Barcelona City Council and 22@Barcelona
(April 2010) with data taken from the latest census on companies (December 2009). The study can be downloaded from
the council website.
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main institutions present at 22@ (according to category and sector)
The media
Companies
MediaPro, Lavinia, Cromosoma, Yahoo R+D
Institutions
RNE, CAC, Barcelona TV
Specific areas
Barcelona Media Park
Universities
UPF, UB, UOC
Technological centres
Barcelona Media – Innovation Centre
Incubators
Media – ICT building
Residences
Melon District / Ciutadella
Dissemination
Media factory
icts: a network of R&D centres linked to icts
Companies
T-Systems, Indra, Telefónica
Institutions
CMT, FBD, Localret
Specific areas
Interface building, Media – ICT building
Universities
UPF, UB, UPC, La Salle
Technological centres
ICT technology centre
Incubators
Media – ICT building
Residences
Melon District
Dissemination
ICT house
medical technologies – medtech
Companies
Matachana, Gaes, Sanofi Aventis, Isdin, Telemedecine
Institutions
CatSalut, Banc de Sang i Teixits
Specific areas
Health building, BIO business park
Universities
UPF, UB, UPC
Technological centres
TecMed 22@ laboratory
Incubators
Health building
Residences
Nido
Dissemination
Health building
energy
Companies
Endesa, Ecotècnia, Agbar
Institutions
ITER, Catalan Institute of Climate Sciences (IC3), CETAQUA
Specific areas
Campus services
Universities
UB, UPC
Technological centres
IREC
Incubators
b_TEC incubator
Residences
b_TEC residence
Dissemination
Campus services
Design
Companies
G-Star Raw, ADD, Node, Morera Design, ruiz+company, Estudio Arola
Institutions
BCD
Specific areas
Palo Alto, PBM, Hub Design
Universities
Vic University, UPC, IAAC
Technological centres
Barcelona Media – Innovation Centre
Incubators
Media – ICTs, Bressol Moda project
Residences
Melon District / Ciutadella
Dissemination
Hub Design
In addition to the foregoing, the following R&D and technology transfer institutions should be
mentioned: Barcelona Digital – Technology Centre ICT; UOC R+D; Barcelona Media – Innovation
Centre; DTIC; Orange R+D; PRBB; KIM BCN; Health building; LEITAT Technological Centre;
Alstom R+D; IREC+ITER; Telefónica R+D.
Lastly, in 2010 new companies are hoping to open in 22@Barcelona, including: National Geographic, Aenor, Marcus Evans, Quantum Solutions, Bassat Ogilvy, CMT and Telefónica.
2.3 a project for social renewal
The association between the Icària International project and 22@Barcelona is also aimed at fostering relations between the various professionals working in the area. Consequently, new formal
and informal networks have been set up to establish (local and international) business cooperation
projects, to improve social and business cohesion and to increase the quality of life and the working
conditions of citizens. The following projects are worth mentioning:
• 22@network association of companies, to increase the competitiveness and international
standing of companies in the district.
• 22@Update Breakfast, a meeting point and forum for sharing innovative ideas among directors
and professionals linked to innovation and knowledge that has been organised every month since
2004.
• 22@voluntariat, a volunteering initiative open to all individuals in the 22@Network who wish
to support social, educational and cultural projects carried out by the institutions and associations in the district.
• Digital District programme, which promotes and supports innovative projects encouraging the
use of new information and communication technologies.
Furthermore, it is also necessary to draw attention to the activities UPF carries out in accordance
with its commitment to social responsibility, which include the following33:
• integration plan for disabled persons at UpF and isabel de villena gender equality plan
(2008-2010), both currently being implemented. In the coming months an assessment is expected to be carried out on the current equality plan and the next plan will be drawn up for the
period between 2011 and 2012.
• cooperation and solidarity activities, organised by the UPF Solidaria platform, which works
on three main lines of action: networking with other universities; fostering the participation of
the university community; and promoting volunteering among UPF students.
• Environmental commitments set out in the agenda 21 proposal.
• Various activities (lectures, exhibitions, etc.) on the context of the three Unesco chairs (IberoAmerican culture; Intercultural Studies and the recent Environmental Life Cycle).
• Adult education offered through the UpF senior programme (which includes subjects from official syllabi) and visits to allow people to find out about UPF’s facilities as part of the classrooms
for senior citizens scheme.
33. A more in-depth account of these activities and future expectations in relation to them can be seen in section C) Transformation of the campus into a comprehensive, social model and its integration within its land setting.
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H
alliances anD netWoRKs
0. introduction
alliances and networks: a form of international association
The current policy of alliances has clear geographical priorities with the following aims:
• to firmly establish UpF’s standing on the international stage.
• To strengthen ties by forging a network of preferred partners.
• To create robust, sustainable projects.
Moreover, UPF has been actively involved in the following:
• European calls for educational cooperation projects
• competitive research and transfer programmes
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Diagram V. Map of alliances and projects according to geographical location
Maastricht RISE
Group
consortium
Russia agreements
Erasmus Mundus
Atlantis projects
Double degrees with SUNY
Study Abroad Programme
International Graduate Summer School with NYU
4 Universities
Alliance
(A4U: UAM, UAB,
UC3M, UPF)
Ivy League :
CASB
(Consortium
for Advanced
Studies in
Barcelona)
Barcelona Group
(UB, UAB, UPF)
Erasmus Mundus
ALFA projects
PCI projects
Law faculties network
Brazil agreements
ACUP
Catalan
Association of
Public Universities
University
associates:
UOC and A4U
Teaching
associates:
Barcelona GSE
and IBEI
OPERA Office (Brussels)
Erasmus Mundus
EM MAPP (IBEI)
EM MULTIELE (LING)
EMME (CCPP)
EM Bioinfo (BIO)
EMJD Music & Sound
Computing (TIC)
Research and knowledge transfer:
7th FP projects
Erasmus Mundus
Euroasian Summer School
ICI ECP: EU Korean Nexus
Korea Foundation
KOFAC
India agreements
China agreements
Talent attraction:
Starting Grants
Advanced Grants
ICREA
ICREA Academia
Transfer networks:
Red OTRI
APTE
XPCAT
1. in europe
1.1 maastricht group
Formed by the universities of Maastricht, Mannheim, Toulouse, Central Budapest, Warwick, University College Dublin and UPF.
A merger is currently being negotiated with the Rise consortium – Raising the Impact of SocioEconomic Sciences – (Mannheim, CEU Budapest, London School of Economics, Sciences Po, Bocconi, Tilburg, Deusto, Stockholm School of Economics). Proposals are underway for joint degrees
and cooperation for postgraduate studies in the fields of legal sciences, biomedical research and
business. In addition, most of the institutions comprising both groups are part of consortiums with
which UPF applies to European schemes such as the Erasmus Mundus.
1.2 european University association (eUa)
UPF is present on the Management Committee of the Council for Doctoral Education, CDE, helping to shape the doctoral education model on a European level from the standpoint of the Catalan
and Spanish system. Accordingly, the university seeks to be actively involved in shaping European
policy in a key area such as doctoral studies while incorporating the innovations and best practices it
identifies into its own model.
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2. in north america
2.1 consortium for advanced studies in Barcelona (casB)
Formed by American universities from the Ivy League (Brown, Northwestern, Cornell, Harvard,
Chicago, Princeton), the University of Stanford and the Barcelona group (UB, UAB and UPF). On
the context of this programme, the universities in Barcelona receive some one hundred bachelor’s degree students each year who can follow subjects on any degree indistinctly so they can be completely
immersed. Likewise, a postdoctoral scholarship programme has been set up to encourage students
from Barcelona universities to undertake placements at partner universities in the USA.
2.2 network of universities in the study abroad programme
This network has lent UPF presence in the USA (Boston, Pennsylvania, Richmond, Chicago, Northwestern and Georgetown, among other institutions) and in Canada (British Columbia, for instance).
3. spain reaching out to the world34
3.1 University associate a4U
Formed by the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Madrid, the
Carlos III University in Madrid and Pompeu Fabra University, the A4U is consolidating its standing
as an individual and collective platform for presence in and becoming part of other leading networks. Set up in 2007, the alliance is organised into six independent working groups. The first three
have already carried out several activities as summarized below:
academic career
The aim is to encourage the mobility of doctors and promote their employment integration in
companies. In the case of the former, the postdoctoral scholarship programme has been set up35
(24 two-year post-doctoral placements that can be held at any one of the three universities other
than the doctor’s university of origin). Likewise, to promote the employment integration of doctors
in organisations in the university community and in the private sector, the alliance has created the
training programme for the employment integration of doctors.
Research and knowledge transfer
With regard to research, the office for the promotion of european Research activities
(opeRa)36 has been set up with the aim of boosting the leadership profile and involvement of the
universities in European programmes and the aim of furthering the interests of the universities in the
A4U in preparing and deciding on EU policies on R&D&I. When it comes to knowledge transfer,
the office for the assessment and marketing of research results has been set up in Brussels with
the aim of boosting critical mass and providing a forum for the exchange of experiences to foster the
marketing of the research results of the four universities.
34. For further information on the associates (university, teaching and research partners) described in this
section, see section E) Associates.
35. See action B4.
36. See action B5.
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international relations
A specific agreement has been signed with icex to obtain funding for 50% of the activities
planned37. This made it possible during the 2008-2009 academic year for the alliance to give a presentation in china, and in the 2009-2010 academic year it led to a launch pad being established in
india. In the coming years, countries with which the alliance is seeking to embark on joint institutional missions include Brazil and Russia, with a view to taking advantage of these emerging economies and their enormous potential, particularly in the field of postgraduate studies and research.
The alliance is also keen to promote relations with ibero-american and european institutions.
In the case of Ibero-America, thanks to the organisation at UPF of the 1st Spanish/Ibero-American
Conference of Law Faculties (18 and 19 March 2010), an international association for legal education was set up. The key goals of the association, which is formed by the nineteen Ibero-American
institutions that took part in the meeting (including universities, foundations and institutions) and
by the four universities in the alliance, are to forge a shared setting for the mobility of students and
lecturers, to promote joint research groups, to create a journal that meets international standards of
excellence (along with other means to popularize scientific output) and to organize a system for the
accreditation of law faculties and legal education institutions. With regard to European institutions,
a One-Day Rectors’ Conference was organised at UC3M to enable the rectors in the alliance to
engage in discussions with five of their European counterparts on excellence strategies.
The three remaining groups (undergraduate/postgraduate studies, students and university
extension) are still being established
Nonetheless, in relation to the first group, an internal pilot working group has been set up by UPF
to plan and define joint degrees to be offered by the universities in the A4U since they have already
laid firm foundations in terms of cooperation.
3.2 University associate Uoc
The participation of UOC as a university associate has helped strengthen the ties that already existed
between both universities. Specifically, this cooperation unfolds by means of three projects, one in
the field of teaching and two in the field of research.
in terms of teaching, UOC and UPF have already engaged in cooperation within the framework
of an educational model that combines face-to-face teaching with virtual education in a bimodal
format. During the 2009-2010 academic year, both universities offered a joint postgraduate programme (with the university master’s degree in Teaching of Compulsory Secondary Education and
Baccalaureate, Professional Training and the Teaching of Languages) and now the aim is to consider
extending this pilot project to bachelor’s degree studies (the bachelor’s degree in Criminology and
Public Prevention Policies)38.
in terms of research, firstly, there will be greater scope for research cooperation in leading environments such as Barcelona Media technological centre, the Board of Trustees of which is chaired by
UPF; the IN3 institute for research (Internet Interdisciplinary Institute) attached to UOC; and,
lastly, the research activities and endeavours conducted in the departments and divisions of both
universities (studies in communication and information sciences at UOC, the Department of
Information and Communication Technologies at UPF and other UPF departments linked to social
sciences). Secondly, cooperation between both universities in the field of science is also giving rise
to the possibility of setting up a research centre on political and moral theory. This centre, affiliated
with both universities, would host researchers from both institutions39.
37. See action A8.
38. See action A13.
39. See action B2.
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3.3 teaching associate: postgraduate platforms
The university strategy seeks to foster postgraduate studies in the coming years and to expand on the
range of official master’s degrees so that by the 2010-2011 academic year, 70% of degrees taught at
UPF will be master’s degrees40. Likewise, the university also seeks to showcase the fact that these are
interuniversity degrees.
This is made possible thanks to a policy which, in addition to fostering the studies offered by UPF,
lends priority to (interuniversity) postgraduate platforms and other universities (especially local
institutions). As stated, the two UpF interuniversity postgraduate platforms are active contributors to this institutional policy. These two internationally renowned centres of outstanding quality
constitute the essence of the project’s associate network in terms of teaching:
• Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE)
• Barcelona Institute for International Studies (IBEI)
The close cooperation of these institutes on the project is based on the university model UPF seeks
to promote: a model founded on close ties between scientific research and teaching.
The active involvement of both institutions41 – who focus their activities on social sciences and
humanities – is intended to consolidate UPF’s standing as the leading postgraduate platform in Barcelona. Their location at the UPF Social Sciences and Humanities Park will make it possible to pool
capacities and thereby increase synergies.
3.4 Research and knowledge transfer associates
The campus also benefits from the unwavering support of countless research and transfer centres,
which sometimes host researchers from other universities. They promote the presence of UPF in
highly specialist fields of research on the context of cross-border collaboration, achieving international outreach and having a major impact nationally in economic and social terms.
For instance, according to the report “Provisional results of Spain’s participation in the 7th Framework Programme (2007-2009)” (CDTI, April 2010), five of UpF’s strategic associates were among
the top 20 Spanish institutions in terms of income obtained:
pompeu Fabra University: 10th position among all institutions and 6th position among Spanish
universities with 24 projects (6 as coordinator).
centre for genomic Regulation (cRg): 13th position among all institutions and 1st position
among all other institutions with 17 projects (7 as coordinator).
Barcelona media technological centre: 17th position among all institutions and 2nd position
among innovation centres with 14 projects (6 as coordinator).
Research centre for international economics (cRei): 9th position among all research centres
with 3 projects approved (3 as coordinator).
municipal institute of medical Research: 10th position among all other institutions with 5
projects approved.
Moreover, UPF and some of its strategic associates are also actively involved in several knowledge
transfer networks:
40. See Table II. University master’s degrees offered in section A) Teaching improvement and the EHEA.
41. See action A10.
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network of offices for the transfer of Research Results (RedotRi)
RedOTRI is the network of offices for the transfer of research results (OTRI) of Spanish universities
whose aim is to foster the role of universities as key components in the national innovation system.
association of technological parks of spain (apte)
The Association of Technological Parks of Spain (APTE) is a vital element in Spain’s science, technology and business fabric. The members of the association include scientific and technological parks
located in the 17 autonomous communities.
network of catalan scientific and technological parks (xpcat)
The network of Catalan scientific and technological parks brings together major production, transfer,
dissemination and knowledge use arenas and acts as a broker between the research and innovation
communities. The network is a major instrument in the scientific, technological, business and market system since it acts as a formula for networking for Catalonia’s scientific, technological, economic
and social future.
3.5 The catalan association of public Universities (acUp)
UPF has been working with the other Catalan State universities to define a joint strategy of internationalisation. This has led to the plan to earn Catalan State universities international outreach 20102012 which has given rise to the Catalan system as an educational body taking part in international
higher education exhibitions. This platform has also allowed Catalan institutions to take part in
an OECD programme on how universities contribute to regional development (Reviews of higher
education institutions in regional development 2008-2010).
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Table XVIII. Summary of international degrees and projects according to fields
SS&H
BIO
ICTs
Double degrees
Master in European Government
(Konstanz-UPF)
International Master in Biomedicine (UPMC-UPF)
Master in Bioinformatics
(Bologna-UPF)
erasmus mundus
Masters Program in Public Policy,
MAPP (IBEI-CEU Budapest-ISS
The Hague, Univ. of York)
ERACOL (Erasmus-Columbus),
Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama group for mobility scholarships in the field of public health
(coordinator: Rotterdam)
Master in Learning and Teaching
of Spanish in Multilingual and
International Contexts, MULTIELE (Deusto-UB-UPF-Univ.
Groningen-Univ.Estocolmo
-Freie Univ.Berlin- Univ. Iceland)
Master in Europeanisation, EMME
(Konstanz-Siena-Essex-UPF)*
Master in Bioinformatics
(Bologna-Helsinki-UPF)*
Joint PhD Program on Sound
and Music Computing’
(Padua-Royal Institute of Techn.
Stockholm, Queen Mary Univ. of
London-UPF)*
other education cooperation projects
ICI ECP, EU-Korean Nexus on
International Economy and Governance (Sciences Po-CBS-BocconiUPF-SNU-KU)
LLP Syllabus development
Europin for doctoral studies in
Bioinformatics (Vienna-UPFParma-Martin Luther Univ.)
Erasmus Network on European History, CLIOHWORLD (coordinator:
Univ. Pisa)
Erasmus Network ESTIA-Earth
for the promotion of women’s
careers in engineering and technologies (coordinator: National
Technical University of Athens)
LLP Syllabus development for Biomedical Engineering (Univ. Nottingham, UPF, Univ. College
London, Univ. Amsterdam)*
Erasmus Network on Geography,
HERODOT (coordinator: Univ.
Hope Liverpool)
Pre-Law programme
(US universities)
Pre-Med programme*
(US universities)
PhD in Economics, Finance and
Management as part of the European Doctoral Program (EDP) in
Quantitative Economics (London
School of Economics - European
University Institute de Florence Université Catholique de Louvain
- the École des Hautes Études en
Sciences Sociales (Paris) - Universität
Bonn - UPF)
international chairs
2 Jean Monnet chairs
3 UNESCO chairs
Research and talent attraction
4 Starting Grants
4 Advanced Grants
17 ICREA
6 ICREA Academia
3 Starting Grants
1 Advanced Grant
3 ICREA
4 ICREA Academia
11 ICREA
5 ICREA Academia
7th FP: 56 projects in the Cooperation programme and 11 projects in the Ideas programme
(according to data on associates as of June 2010)
transfer networks
RedOTRI
APTE
XPCAT
* Projects submitted and/or being prepared.
anneXes
annex i. list of actions
a) teaching improvement and the eHea
teaching quality and improvement of learning
A1
Learning and teaching support programme
30
A2
Tutorial plan of action
33
A3
Promotion of internships
34
A4
Modernisation of the services and facilities at the library/CRAI
37
internationalisation and multilingualism. strategic alliances
A5
Plan of Action for Multilingualism
38
A6
UPF International Experience project
41
A7
UPF Global Network Initiative project
43
A8
A4U International project
46
promotion of postgraduate studies
A9
Promotion of postgraduate studies and the establishment of the Postgraduate
and Doctoral Studies Office
47
A10
Plan for promoting postgraduate schools in the UPF group
50
association with the Uoc and new projects within the framework of the eHea
A11
Implementation of cross-disciplinary bachelor’s degrees
51
A12
Continuing education: recognition of professional skills
53
A13
Bimodal teaching cooperation projects on interuniversity undergraduate
and postgraduate programmes (UPF-UOC)
54
B) scientific improvement and knowledge transfer
B1
UPF–Social Sciences and Humanities Research Park
71
B2
Set-up of a UPF-UOC interuniversity centre for research on moral and political theory 80
B3
Talent attraction and transnational mobility project
82
B4
Mobility programme for young PhD holders as part of the A4U
84
B5
European A4U Office in Brussels (OPERA)
85
B6
Strategic knowledge transfer plan
88
c) transformation of the campus into a comprehensive, social model
and its integration within its land setting
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154
C1
UPF Alumni programme
104
C2
E-administration implementation project
105
C3
Plan of action for a comprehensive model of student participation
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annex ii. list of tables and diagrams
Table I. Bachelor’s degrees offered (April 2010)
Table II. University master’s degrees offered (April 2010)
Table III. Ratio of first choice places offered/demand for places (2009-2010 academic year)
Table IV. University master’s degrees (at UPF centres) offered, demand for places and registration (2009-2010)
Table V. Change in achievement and efficiency rates (2004-2009)
Table VI. Change in graduation and dropout rates (2004-2009)
Table VII. Change in graduation rate within the time envisaged (2004-2009)
Table VIII. Change in dropout due to failure to meet continuance standards during the first year (2004-2009)
Table IX. Indicators of teaching improvement and adaptation to the EHEA (2010-2015)
Table X. Incorporation of staff according to programme and field of knowledge (June 2010)
Table XI. 7th Framework Programme. UPF’s results according to programmes and themes (June 2010)
Table XII. 7th Framework Programme (Cooperation programme). Results attributable to strategic associates (June 2010)
Table XIII. 7th Framework Programme (Ideas programme). Results attributable to strategic associates (June 2010)
Table XIV. Funding for research (June2010)
Table XV. Indicators of scientific improvement and knowledge transfer (2010-2015)
Table XVI. Indicators of the transformation of the campus into a comprehensive, social model and its integration
within its land setting (2010-2015)
Table XVII. Associates according to categories
Table XVIII. Summary of international degrees and projects according to fields
102
118
153
Diagram I. Campus model
Diagram II. Associates
Diagram III. Chart of synergies and interaction
Diagram IV. Map of agreements
Diagram V. Map of alliances and projects according to geographical location
11
13
112
137
148
UPF CAMPUS
19
20
20
21
21
22
22
22
28
63
64
65
65
67
70
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155
3
eConomiC RePoRT
3.1 summarised budget
The actions pertaining to the strategic plan for making the university a campus of international
excellence – “UPF-Icaria International Campus” – have an overall budget of €24,588,000. In this
year’s edition, UPF is applying to the cei-2010 for the sum of €17,211,600.
The table below shows the overall budget for the actions to be carried out and the funding put
forward by UPF. The table also sets out the actions that are part of this project but for which funding
will be sought through the INNOCAMPUS programme.
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Budget
UPF
contribution
Grant
applied for
TOTAL ACTIONS
€24,588.000
€7,376,400
€17,211,600
Total for teaching improvement and adaptation
to the EHEA
€13,845,000
€4,153,500
€9,691,500
SUMMARISED BUDGET CEI-2010
A1
Learning and teaching support programme
€1,415,000
€424,500
€990,500
A2
Tutorial plan of action
€155,000
€46,500
€108,500
A3
Promotion of internships
€230,000
€69,000
€161,000
A4
Modernisation of the services
and facilities at the library/CRAI
€5,630,000
€1,689,000
€3,941,000
A5
Plan of Action for Multilingualism
€650,000
€195,000
€455,000
A6
UPF International Experience project
€1,335,000
€400,500
€934,500
A7
UPF Global Network Initiative project
€1,120,000
€336,000
€784,000
A8
A4U International project
A9
Promotion of postgraduate studies and
the establishment of the Postgraduate and
Doctoral Studies Office
€400,000
€120,000
€280,000
A10
Plan for promoting postgraduate schools
in the UPF group
€1,060,000
€318,000
€742,000
A11
Implementation of cross-disciplinary
bachelor’s degrees
€750,000
€225,000
€525,000
A12
Continuing education: recognition of
professional skills
A13
Bimodal teaching cooperation projects
(UPF-UOC)
Total for scientific improvement and knowledge
transfer
Funding is sought through INNOCAMPUS
No funding is applied for
€1,100,000
€330,000
€770,000
€6,240,000
€1,872,000
€4,368,000
B1
UPF–Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Park
Funding is sought through INNOCAMPUS
B2
Set-up of a UPF-UOC interuniversity centre
for research on moral and political theory
€1,300,000
€390,000
€910,000
B3
Talent attraction and transnational
mobility project
€2,400,000
€720,000
€1,680,000
B4
Mobility programme for young PhD
holders as part of the A4U
€2,540,000
€762,000
€1,778,000
B5
European A4U Office in Brussels
Funding is sought through INNOCAMPUS
B6
Strategic knowledge transfer plan
Funding is sought through INNOCAMPUS
Total for transformation of the campus into a
comprehensive, social model and its integration
within its land setting
€4,503,000
€1,350,900
€3,152,100
C1
UPF-Alumni programme
€1,545,500
€463,650
€1,081,850
C2
E-administration implementation project
€2,957,500
€887,250
€2,070,250
C3
Plan of action for a comprehensive model
of student participation
No funding is applied for
3.2 Detailed budget
This section shows the budget of funds applied for within the framework of CEI-2010 in accordance
with the user guide format.
FUNDS REQUESTED FROM CEI 2010
A) Teaching improvement and adaptation to the EHEA
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€359,100
€481,600
€516,600
€513,100
€506,100
€2,376,500
Building
construction
and start-up
€210,000
€350,000
€1,400,000
€490,000
€0
€2,450,000
Equipment
€245,000
€147,000
€434,000
€42,000
€0
€868,000
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€548,800
€746,900
€865,900
€910,700
€924,700
€3,997,000
TOTAL
€1,362,900
€1,725,500 €3,216,500 €1,955,800 €1,430,000 €9,691,500
B) Scientific improvement and knowledge transfer
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€504,000
€714,000
€861,000
€945,000
€812,000
€3,836,000
Construction
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€70,000
€28,000
€0
€0
€0
€98,000
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€28,000
€238,000
€56,000
€56,000
€56,000
€434,000
TOTAL
€602,000
€980,000
€917,000
€1,001,000
€868,000
€4,368,000
C) Transformation of the campus into a comprehensive, social model
and its integration within its land setting
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€77,000
€85,400
€92,400
€98,000
€98,000
€450,800
Construction
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€211,050
€176,400
€176,400
€177,100
€107,100
€848,050
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€329,000
€393,750
€388,500
€381,500
€360,500
€1,853,250
TOTAL
€617,050
€655,550
€657,300
€656,600
€565,600
€3,152,100
TOTAL
FUNDS REQUESTED
CEI 2010
€2,581,950
€3,361,050
€4,790,800 €3,630,900 €2,846,900 €17,211,600
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On the following pages there is a detailed budget for all actions. It is necessary to point out that
the timing for distribution of the budget for each action matches the timeline for carrying out said
action (see 3.3 Timetable of actions). Also, information is given on actions for which no funding is
requested in this year’s CEI-2010 due to being included in the INNOCAMPUS scheme.
a. teacHing impRovement anD aDaptation
to tHe eHea
Adaptation to the EHEA called for major educational changes involving a new way of conducting all
manner of processes relating to learning, teaching, tutorials and teaching assessment, among others.
The actions planned seek to consolidate this change and to provide teaching staff and students with
the tools needed to successfully adapt to the changes.
a1: leaRning anD teacHing sUppoRt
pRogRamme
This section details thirteen actions arranged into in four specific categories:
The goal of this programme is to provide teaching staff with a comprehensive learning and teaching
support programme endowing them with the tools needed to provide quality teaching in keeping
with the European model to achieve academic excellence.
The following actions are envisaged:
• Setting up, adapting and equipping a setting for fostering teaching innovation and quality.
• Fostering a grants programme for the best innovation and teaching improvement projects prepared by teaching staff in order to encourage innovation and teaching improvement projects to
be carried out.
• Implementing a specific, cross-disciplinary protocol for the integration and training of teaching
and research staff with an intensive plan for receiving new teaching staff and assistants.
• Diversifying the Initial Training in University Teaching (FIDU) programme, ensuring it is
tailored to suit new learning trends and internationalisation and mobility needs, and ensuring it
receives recognition or accreditation from an external quality assessment agency.
• Disseminating excellence in innovation and teaching quality at UPF and obtaining recognition
for the best teaching practices in line with international standards by setting up a UPF Observatory that will include computer and teaching resources in keeping with exemplary teaching
practices.
The aim of this plan is to develop an innovative, quality teaching and learning model, ensuring that
the necessary support systems are put in place to suit each specific context. This will allow for a comprehensive, overall approach to teaching and learning.
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A1: Learning and teaching support
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€90,000
€50,000
€50,000
€50,000
€50,000
€290,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€0
€300,000
€0
€0
€300.000
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€145,000
€145,000
€245,000
€145,000
€145,000
€825000
TOTAL
€235,000
€195,000
€595,000
€195,000
€195,000
€1,415,000
a2: tUtoRial plan oF action
The following actions are envisaged:
• Presenting and approving a tutorial plan of action implementing process-based tutorials (in line
with the Cambridge and Oxford model), as well as a personal development plan before the end
of 2010.
• Defining and implementing this comprehensive tutorial model so it incorporates information,
management, communication and education processes.
• Defining a process for continually assessing the tutorial plan of action which will make it possible to examine potential shortcomings and strengths in the plan at the end of the academic year
for all syllabi, working in conjunction with the academic staff at each centre to address shortcomings and implement the suggestions for improvement.
A2: Tutorial plan of action
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€0
€0
€10,000
€10,000
€0
€20,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€25,000
€25,000
€25,000
€30,000
€30,000
€135,000
TOTAL
€25,000
€25,000
€35,000
€40,000
€30,000
€155,000
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a3: pRomotion oF inteRnsHips
This action will lead to the implementation of internship models to suit the various fields of knowledge aimed at fostering students’ professional acknowledgment and integration and promoting
internationalisation to the greatest extent possible.
The following actions are envisaged:
• Defining the management protocol for international internships and the scheme for customised
guidance and advice during the placement.
• Promoting international internships by means of internal and external calls (UPF, Leonardo
scheme, etc.) with grants for students who choose the international option.
• Expanding on internships for students using mechanisms and resources that allow for the practical training needed whilst fostering mobility in accordance with EHEA standards.
• Defining specific internship models as part of postgraduate programmes (for master’s degrees and
doctoral studies).
A3: Promotion of internships
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162
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€0
€0
€10,000
€10,000
€10,000
€30,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€10,000
€30,000
€50,000
€80,000
€30,000
€200,000
TOTAL
€10,000
€30,000
€60,000
€90,000
€40,000
€230,000
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
a4: moDeRnisation oF tHe seRvices
anD Facilities at tHe liBRaRy/cRai
The social sciences and humanities library/CRAI, annexed to the Social Sciences and HumanitiesUPF Research Park, is a powerful instrument that is widely used by UPF researchers in this particular field, and it constitutes a benchmark for external scholars and researchers. The following actions
are included:
• Completing the refurbishment of the Dipòsit de les Aigües.
• Enhancing the bibliographical collection and make it more specialised.
• Modernising the management of bibliographical collections by incorporating technologies and
equipment making it possible to improve control and management processes.
• Improving information resource access systems, in particular e-systems, by incorporating new
instruments and computer applications (Discovery Tools, ERM, etc.) to make it easier for users
to retrieve information.
A4: Modernisation of the services and facilities at the library/CRAI
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€30,000
€40,000
€50,000
€30,000
€30,000
€180,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€300,000
€500,000
€2,000,00
€700,000
€0
€3,500,000
Equipment
€50,000
€200,000
€100,000
€50,000
€0
€400,000
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€180,000
€280,000
€280,000
€380,000
€430,000
€1,550,000
TOTAL
€560,000
€1,020,000
€2,430,000
€1,160,000
€460,000
€5,630,000
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a5: plan oF action FoR mUltilingUalism
The goal of this plan is to consolidate the university’s multilingual model by implementing the
strategy enshrined in the Plan of Action for Multilingualism as a key instrument for encouraging
internationalisation among the university community. The following actions are included:
• Setting up the Pompeu Fabra Language Learning Centre fitted with all the resources needed to
encourage self-learning.
• Implementing and consolidating the Plan of Action for Multilingualism (2007-13) (PAM) at an
institutional, academic and administrative level using instruments for comprehensive action (in
statutory, informational and educational terms and with respect to support and encouragement).
• Managing multilingualism within the EHEA with a specific plan for training bachelor’s degree
teaching staff and students in a third language (English).
• Carrying out actions for supporting and strengthening educational teaching and linguistic training of students.
A5: Plan of Action for Multilingualism
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164
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€0
€200,000
€0
€0
€200,000
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€90,000
€90,000
€90,000
€90,000
€90,000
€450,000
TOTAL
€90,000
€90,000
€290,000
€90,000
€90,000
€650,000
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
a6: UpF inteRnational expeRience pRoject
The aim of this action is to increase the intensity and scope of international “experience” (personal,
academic and professional experiences) in relation to the mobility of incoming students and the
university community at large. The following actions are envisaged:
• international Helpdesk programme laying the structural foundations for developing the reception plan envisaged in the UPF25 YEARS Strategy.
• Implementing the reception plan in coordination with the mobility plan by means of initiatives
that promote relations and exchanges between the international group and the remainder of the
university community.
• Implementing the mobility plan creatively to enable the greatest number of individuals to benefit from an international experience.
• talent programme:
• Making efficient use of existing channels for relations (22@ and other areas of cooperation at
an institutional level) and communication.
• Incorporating online tools for recruitment and marketing.
• Ensuring presence at international higher education and employment exhibitions.
A6: UPF International Experience project
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€50,000
€80,000
€80,000
€80,000
€80,000
€370,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€10,000
€20,000
€10,000
€0
€40,000
Direct
execution
expenses
and other
expenses
€125,000
€180,000
€187,000
€214,000
€219,000
€925,000
TOTAL
€175,000
€270,000
€287,000
€304,000
€299,000
€1,335,000
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a7: UpF gloBal netWoRK initiative pRoject
This action strives to ensure UPF attains international presence, importance and standing owing to
the quality of its teaching and research. The following actions are envisaged:
• enhancing institutional cooperation with the universities chosen in the Usa (Brown, Boston,
Cornell, Chicago, Pennsylvania, SUNY, NYU, among others), europe (Maastricht, Toulouse,
CEU Budapest, University College Dublin, Mannheim, Trento, Sciences Po, among others) and
in latin america.
• positioning in asia by implementing actions in individual countries under a new leadership
position: rector’s delegate for relations with Asian universities.
• Implementing information management and coordination tools (map of international partners
incorporating mobility, cooperation and research).
• Designing and organising an international graduate summer school.
• Bcn-nyc programme to implement privileged two-way dealings with universities from New
York city.
A7: UPF Global Network Initiative project
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2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€73,000
€73,000
€73,000
€73,000
€73,000
€365,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€69,000
€142,000
€165,000
€182,000
€197,000
€755,000
TOTAL
€142,000
€215,000
€238,000
€255,000
€270,000
€1,120,000
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
a8: a4U inteRnational pRoject
This action supplements the foregoing action, whereby the aim of the A4U international is to help
the universities in the alliance to obtain a privileged position in strategic countries. The joint actions
envisaged are as follows:
• Foraying into and implementation in emerging countries, especially the BRic (Brazil, Russia,
India and China), with enormous potential for growth and talent attraction. On account of their
complex nature and size, these countries form part of the A4U’s goals for action, adopting an
approach to its missions in a joint fashion.
• joint promotion as a core of Spanish excellence in international forums and congresses.
A8: A4U international project
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€7000
€7000
€7000
€7000
€7000
€35,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€5000
€5000
€0
€0
€10,000
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€21,000
€21,000
€21,000
€21,000
€21,000
€105,000
TOTAL
€28,000
€33,000
€33,000
€28,000
€28,000
€150,000
An application has been submitted to the INNOCAMPUS 2010 programme for funding for this action.
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a9: pRomotion oF postgRaDUate stUDies anD
tHe estaBlisHment oF tHe postgRaDUate
anD DoctoRal stUDies oFFice
The aims of this area include developing and building on postgraduate and doctoral programmes as
an appropriate setting for the fusion of teaching, research and transfer, educating and training professionals to a high level of specialisation and experience. The following actions are envisaged:
• Setting up a Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies Office.
• Designing and presenting a range of postgraduate programmes adapted to new needs in the
professional and research setting.
• Reviewing and assessing the postgraduate programmes offered at an international level and in
terms of their suitability to European quality standards.
• Establishing new interuniversity alliances and strengthening those already in place with respect
to postgraduate programmes.
• Defining and integrating an authentic UPF teaching and learning model within the process for
preparing, drawing up and presenting the PhD dissertation.
• Planning actions for postdoctoral education and training in teaching in cooperation with other
universities.
• Providing professional and skills-related guidance to those taking part in the programme.
A9: Promotion of postgraduate studies and the establishment of the Postgraduate
and Doctoral Studies Office
UPF CAMPUS
168
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€300,000
€0
€0
€0
€0
€300,000
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€20,000
€20,000
€20,000
€20,000
€20,000
€100,000
TOTAL
€320,000
€20,000
€20,000
€20,000
€20,000
€400,000
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
a10: plan FoR pRomoting postgRaDUate
scHools in tHe UpF gRoUp
The aim of this action is to increase the university’s support and cooperation with education centres
offering postgraduate studies within the UPF group. The following actions are envisaged:
• Designing a plan for promoting the postgraduate schools in the UPF group which envisages relations between the university and the postgraduate platforms pertaining to the UPF group and
which stand out owing to their international outreach and calling, and also on account of their
alliance with other universities, for instance:
• Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE)
• Barcelona Institute for International Studies (IBEI)
• IDEC Continuing Education Institute
A10: Plan for promoting postgraduate schools in the UPF group
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€80,000
€120,000
€140,000
€140,000
€140,000
€620,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€60,000
€80,000
€100,000
€100,000
€100,000
€440,000
TOTAL
€140,000
€200,000
€240,000
€240,000
€240,000
€1,060,000
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
169
a11: implementation oF cRoss-DisciplinaRy
BacHeloR’s DegRees
The goal is to forge an appealing range of cross-disciplinary bachelor’s degrees for students in order
to meet the needs of society along the lines of those offered by international benchmark universities.
The following actions are envisaged:
• Preparing a framework document establishing the academic characteristics of cross-disciplinary
bachelor’s degree studies and defining a management protocol for these degrees.
• Planning the bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering (for the 2010-2011 academic year)
and two new cross-disciplinary bachelor’s degrees by 2013 and assessing the potential to offer
two more looking ahead to 2015.
• Approving specific bachelor’s degree programmes combining existing studies to provide for
multi-faceted, innovative profiles based on the disciplinary affinities among those studies (for
instance: Law and Business Management and Administration/Economics; Law and Political Sciences; Law and Criminology; Journalism and Humanities, Journalism and Economics; Journalism and Political Sciences, and so on).
A11: Implementation of cross-disciplinary bachelor’s degrees
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€50,000
€150,000
€150,000
€200,000
€200,000
€750,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
TOTAL
€50,000
€150,000
€150,000
€200,000
€200,000
€750,000
a12: continUing eDUcation: Recognition
oF pRoFessional sKills
The goal of this action is to increase the university’s appeal to people from the business world, allowing them to validate their professional skills for credits in official university undergraduate and
postgraduate syllabi.
The following actions are envisaged:
• Defining the skills to be assessed in each syllabus.
• Offering subjects/credits that are likely to be validated due to them matching the skills obtained
through work experience.
• Defining methods for assessing these skills.
• Implementing the project.
No application for funding has been submitted for this action.
UPF CAMPUS
170
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
a13: BimoDal teacHing coopeRation
pRojects on inteRUniveRsity UnDeRgRaDUate
anD postgRaDUate pRogRammes (UpF-Uoc)
The aim of this action is to consolidate a range of joint university (undergraduate and postgraduate)
degrees based on a bimodal format that can be adapted to suit various groups of students and meet
their needs.
The bimodal educational model is flexible and allows for a combination of traditional educational
activities (master classes, internships, tutorials) to be conducted with the possibilities provided by
information and communication technologies (face-to-face classes/interactive classrooms, videos,
virtual classrooms, etc.). Beyond the traditional distinction of face-to-face programmes, blended
learning and virtual studies, these activities make it possible to improve the quality of teaching and
learning and, first and foremost, to meet the needs of various groups of students.
• Setting up a UPF-UOC working group to examine the studies offered by both universities in
order to assess which programmes offer the most suitable synergies to be re-conceived in terms of
bimodality.
• Preparing a protocol for action on models and strategies that will form the basis for implementing the UPF-UOC bimodal programmes to be offered.
• Preparing the syllabus for a joint UPF-UOC bachelor’s degree in Criminology (or altering the
current syllabus, if applicable), for it to be checked by the Universities Board.
• Designing, preparing and providing the learning resources needed for the bimodal scheme and
the launch of the joint UPF-UOC bachelor’s degree in Criminology.
• Preparing a report for a new joint bachelor’s degree and processing it for the course to be offered
for the first time during the 2011-2012 academic year.
• Designing, preparing and providing the learning resources needed for the bimodal scheme and
the launch of the new joint bachelor’s degree.
• Preparing the report for a new joint interuniversity master’s degree for the programme to be offered for the first time during the 2012-2013 academic year.
• Designing, preparing and providing the learning resources needed for the bimodal scheme and
the launch of the new interuniversity master’s degree.
A13: Bimodal teaching cooperation projects on interuniversity undergraduate
and postgraduate programmes (UPF-UOC)
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€140,000
€175,000
€175,000
€175,000
€140,000
€770,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€60,000
€75,000
€75,000
€60,000
€60,000
€330,000
TOTAL
€200,000
€250,000
€250,000
€200,000
€200,000
€1,100,000
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
171
B. scientiFic impRovement anD
KnoWleDge tRansFeR
This section sets out six actions aimed at promoting and showcasing the research activities conducted
at UPF. Four of these actions are carried out in conjunction with the project associates (one with
UOC and three on the context of the A4U).
B1: UpF–social sciences anD HUmanities
ReseaRcH paRK
The goal of this action is to build two buildings with a total surface area of 12,515 sq. m. to
encourage and foster R&D&i activities in the fields of social sciences and humanities. These
buildings will form part of the UPF–Social Sciences and Humanities Research Park.
B1: UPF–Social Sciences and Humanities Research Park
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Building
construction
and start-up
€9,478,422
€12,578,116
€5,668,462
€0
€0
€27,725,000
Equipment
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
TOTAL
€9,478,422
€12,578,116
€5,668,462
€0
€0
€27,725,000
Joint funding
Catalonia
competitiveness
programme
€0
€6,000,000
€1,200,000
€0
€0
€7,200,000
Contribution from
the CSIC:
Evolutionary
Biology
Institute
€0
€2,500,000
€3,000,000
€0
€0
€5,500,000
ACTEPARQ-09
€5,089,752
€0
€0
€0
€0
€5,089,752
TOTAL
€5,089,752
€8,500,000
€4,200,000
€0
€0
€17,789,752
TOTAL
€4,388,670
€4,078,116
€1,468,462
€0
€0
€9,935,248
joint funding
An application has been submitted to the INNOCAMPUS 2010 programme for funding for this action.
UPF CAMPUS
172
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
B2: set-Up oF a UpF-Uoc inteRUniveRsity
centRe FoR ReseaRcH on moRal
anD political tHeoRy
The aim of this action it to set up and firmly establish a leading international centre in an emerging
field of study on matters relating to global justice and democracy. In the medium-term, the priority will be on research, though the centre will also offer advanced education (a university master’s
degree and/or doctoral studies) in these fields.
Las following actions are envisaged:
• To prepare and define the centre’s structure, goals and method of organisation, operation and
funding.
• To establish the agreements needed between the promoting universities and, if applicable, other
institutions or companies contributing to the goals of the centre.
• To set up the centre and arrange a basic structure in terms of organisation and materials.
• To appoint UPF and UOC researchers and an academic management team.
• To define a five year working plan.
• To launch the centre’s regular activities.
• To organise an initial international symposium on “global justice and democracy” to make the
centre known on the international stage.
B2: Set-up of a UPF-UOC interuniversity centre for research on moral and political theory
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€60,000
€120,000
€120,000
€120,000
€120,000
€540,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€100,000
€80,000
€80,000
€80,000
€80,000
€420,000
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€40,000
€300,000
€0
€0
€0
€340,000
TOTAL
€200,000
€500,000
€200,000
€200,000
€200,000
€1,300,000
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
173
B3: talent attRaction anD tRansnational
moBility pRoject
This action aims to promote the attraction of talent and transnational mobility in a highly competitive environment characterised by a shortfall in resources, adopting an appealing and innovative scheme. The initiative is intended for internationally prominent researchers to enable them to
become spearheads worldwide in their respective fields thanks to their scientific track record and the
quality of the research projects and the publications on which they have worked.
The following actions are envisaged:
• Specifically defining mobility actions, defining the timetable for execution of the project and the
budget required.
• Designing and agreeing on the method for assessing eligible candidates, vital in choosing the
best researchers based on scientific excellence, suitability and opportunity. Highly competitive
international assessment panels will conduct this task with the participation of experts from UPF.
• Submitting a request for partial funding for hiring researchers through the 7th Framework Programme COFUND scheme in early 2011 (deadline for submission: 17 February 2011) including the aforementioned aspects.
• Preparing and promoting calls for candidates, selecting candidates and then appointing them in
line with the respective mobility scheme.
• Defining the methodology for assessing and monitoring candidates.
• Identifying other institutions and negotiating agreements with them to stabilise the longer term
situation for researchers and allow them to remain in their posts when they pass their assessments, for instance allowing them to apply to calls to become ICREA researchers or submit bids
to the Ideas programme with the assurance of success enabling the beneficiaries to supplement
their salaries.
B3: Talent attraction and transnational mobility project
UPF CAMPUS
174
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€240,000
€480,000
€600,000
€720,000
€360,000
€2,400,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
TOTAL
€240,000
€480,000
€600,000
€720,000
€360,000
€2,400,000
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
B4: yoUng DoctoRs’ moBility pRogRamme
as paRt oF tHe a4U
The A4U has promoted a post-doctoral scholarship programme to encourage the mobility of young
doctors between the universities in the alliance and, by extension, on exchanges between Madrid and
Barcelona. The goal of the programme is to foster international academic excellence in promoting
academic careers and mobility among teaching and research staff.
This specific action continues the programme and increases the mobility of doctors.
• The first joint call of the four universities was announced in 2008 with three places being made
available at each institution for young doctors from the other universities, thus encouraging mobility. A total of twelve places were announced for two-year placements with annual remuneration equal to that provided under the Juan de la Cierva programme.
• The number of places offered in the 2009 and 2010 calls doubled with each university signing six
contracts. Two doctors from each of the other three universities were appointed. Accordingly, the
programme offered 24 two-year post-doctoral contracts.
• Each year, UPF receives six young doctors, two from each of the three other institutions in the
alliance for a two-year placement who between them sign contracts for six young doctors from
UPF. What is more, the number of places called each year may be increased to as much as 48 (12
for UPF) looking ahead to 2015.
B4: Young doctors’ mobility programme as part of the A4U
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€420,000
€420,000
€510,000
€510,000
€680,000
€2,540,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
TOTAL
€420,000
€420,000
€510,00
€510,000
€680,000
€2,540,000
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
175
B5: eURopean a4U oFFice in BRUssels (opeRa)
This action aims to earn the universities in the A4U greater international prominence by setting up
an office in Brussels (the OPERA office, Office for the Promotion of European Research Activities).
B5: European A4U Office in Brussels (OPERA)
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€30,000
€50,000
€60,000
€60,000
€60,000
€260,000
TOTAL
€30,000
€50,000
€60,000
€60,000
€60,000
€260,000
An application has been submitted to the INNOCAMPUS 2010 programme for funding for this action.
UPF CAMPUS
176
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
B6: stRategic KnoWleDge tRansFeR plan
The Strategic Transfer Plan seeks to lend value to the research conducted by the university, managing
the transfer of knowledge as a strategic institutional resource.
The main goals are as follows:
• Placing UPF’s scientific capacities and knowledge potential at the disposal of the social and economic fabric and increasing funding for R&D&I activities.
• Promoting the use of research results and encouraging enterprising spirit and the start-up of
technological and/or intensive knowledge-based companies.
The plan involves three areas of action as follows:
• Identifying and assessing results.
• Protecting and marketing research results (including signing contracts for collaborative R&D,
technology or knowledge licences, and the set-up of technology-based companies).
• Promoting knowledge transfer.
B6: Strategic knowledge transfer plan
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€0
€50,000
€50,000
€50,000
€50,000
€200,000
TOTAL
€0
€50,000
€50,000
€50,000
€50,000
€200,000
An application has been submitted to the INNOCAMPUS 2010 programme for funding for this action.
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
177
c. tRansFoRmation oF tHe campUs into
a compReHensive, social moDel anD its
integRation WitHin its lanD setting
c1: UpF alUmni pRogRamme
The programme has the following aims: establishing and strengthening ties between the university
and all groups with which it engages in dealings;
fostering and conveying the image of the university as an institution of the utmost quality to similar groups (former students, lecturers, prospective students, companies and institutions); and setting up a platform that makes it possible in the
medium-term to embark on the tasks of seeking out external funding enabling the university to carry
out new projects.
• Locating former UPF students (7500 for the 2014-2015 academic year).
• Network arrangement: online directory, clubs according to sectors and international chapters of
societies.
• Entering into agreements with local, autonomous regional, national and international bodies
making it possible to establish relations between the UPF network and other networks.
• Setting up a professional careers service allowing for access to job vacancies, customised career
guidance and career guidance courses.
• Developing a basic range of services: email, access to library services, university card, company
products and service discounts, etc.
• Organising activities (courses, sessions, meetings, etc.) to promote the professional careers of
former students.
• Developing the strategic plan for fundraising addressed to former students.
C1: UPF Alumni programme
UPF CAMPUS
178
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€110,000
€122,000
€132,000
€140,000
€140,000
€644,000
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€1500
€2000
€2000
€3000
€3000
€11,500
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€120,000
€150,000
€180,000
€210,000
€230,000
€890,000
TOTAL
€231,500
€274,000
€314,000
€353,000
€373,000
€1,545,500
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
c2: e-aDministRation
implementation pRoject
The e-administration project stems from a legal requirement (set out in Law 11/2007) to ensure students and lecturers can engage in online dealings with the university and benefit from the same levels
of service and legal security as they would when dealing with the institution in person. Similarly,
the project underlines the profile of the Internet as a global communication channel that constitutes
a highly popular aspect in the behaviour of new generations. Lastly, the UPF conceives this project
as a tool for improving administrative procedure by reducing processing times and processing costs,
thereby improving efficiency in the university’s internal management. Its goal is to ensure the right of
teaching staff and students to engage in dealings with the university over the Internet.
The actions envisaged are as follows:
• Launching mechanisms for digital identity and e-signatures for groups which have at their disposal services where these legal and technical tools are paramount.
• Fostering e-documentation (in preference over the use of paper) by setting up a document management system and tools for the signature and preservation of e-documents.
• Promoting online dealings with companies by means of projects such as the business services
folder, the online invoice, e-procurement, etc.
• Developing a host of processes and services using online means providing full legal assurance
based on the electronic transcript.
• Implementing e-voting tools in the university’s election procedures.
• Promoting inter-administrative dealings with other universities and the public authorities over
the Internet.
C2: E-administration implementation project
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
TOTAL
Staff
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Building
construction
and start-up
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
€0
Equipment
€300,000
€250,000
€250,000
€250,000
€150,000
€1,200,000
Direct execution expenses
and other
expenses
€350,000
€412,500
€375,000
€335,000
€285,000
€1,757,500
TOTAL
€650,000
€662,500
€625,000
€585,000
€435,000
€2,957,500
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
179
c3: plan oF action FoR a compReHensive
moDel oF stUDent paRticipation
The aim of this plan it so ensure active student participation in university life to build an environment that allows individuals to work in an atmosphere of dialogue and cooperation.
The goals are as follows: strengthening student representation mechanisms; encouraging dialogue
between the student community and the academic sphere; and, fostering cultural and sporting
activities organised on the UPF campus, especially those promoted by students.
No application for funding has been submitted for this action.
UPF CAMPUS
180
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
A5
A4
A3
A2
A1
Description of actions
Resources and materials for multilingualism
Linguistic assessment exam
Plan for language training in a third language (English) for bachelor's degree students and teaching staff
Implementation and consolidation of the Plan of Action for Multilingualism (2007-13) (PAM) in the institutional, academic
and educational spheres using comprehensive instruments for action (in terms of norms, information, training, support and promotion)
Arrangement of an area for language learning
Plan of Action for Multilingualism
Purchase and implementation of computer applications to improve access to e-resources
Work to digitise the bibliographical collection
Work to catalogue collections stemming from donations
Processing of bibliographical collections using RFID technology
Invitation to tender and purchase of equipment for implementing RFID technology
Staff recruitment for implementing RFID technology
Refurbishment works indoors in the Dipòsit de les Aigües library
Modernisation of the services and facilities at the library/CRAI
Grants for international internships
Development of an application for the management and tutorials for internships
Pilot project in cooperation with Catalonia General Board of Chambers of Commerce to prepare a methodology
and system for support to management, monitoring and assessment of internships
Boosting internships through new agreements with companies and institutions
Preparation of a map on best international internships
Promotion of internships
Tutor training and advice programme
Monitoring, assessment and implementation of improvements to the pilot project
Development of an application to provide support for the tutorial plan of action in all syllabi
Implementation of a pilot programme for the tutorial plan of action in two degrees
Approval of the tutorial plan of action and the rules governing the UPF tutorial model
Tutorial plan of action
Set up of the UPF observatory on best university practices
Equipping of pilot classrooms with intensive use of educational technology
Skill development workshops (learning support)
Teacher staff training (teaching methodology, languages) with an international approach
Funds for teaching improving and innovation with a perspective of internationalisation
Area for educational teaching
Learning and teaching support programme
3.3. Chart of actions
3.3. CRONOGRAMA DE ACTUACIONES
1s
2011
2s
1s
2012
2s
1s
2013
2s
1s
2014
2s
1s
2015
2s
A12
A11
A10
A9
A8
A7
A6
Implementation of the project in all syllabi
Study for validating professional skills
Continuing education: recognition of professional skills
Teaching staff for new cross-disciplinary bachelor’s degrees
Planning of three new cross-disciplinary bachelor’s degrees
Planning of bachelor’s degree studies in bioengineering
Definition of a management protocol for these degrees
Preparation of a framework document establishing the academic characteristics of cross-disciplinary degrees
Implementation of cross-disciplinary bachelor’s degrees
Implementation of a gradual improvement and monitoring plan
Analysis of strategies for drawing in, assisting and educating students
Transformation of the number of UPF master's degrees and degrees in coordination with affiliated centres to become official master's degrees
Analysis, assessment and definition of the strategic plan relating to the new range of postgraduate and doctoral studies offered
Plan for promoting postgraduate schools in the UPF group
Creation of networking learning and working environments for postgraduate and doctoral studies
Postdoctoral training and education
Definition and integration of a genuine UPF teaching and learning model in the process for designing, preparing
and presenting a PhD dissertation
Establishment of new interuniversity alliances and the strengthening of existing ones
Customised, ongoing advice and training actions for postgraduate teaching
Arrangement of the postgraduate and doctoral studies office
Promotion of postgraduate studies and the establishment of the Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies Office
Joint participation in international conferences and forums
Actions for engaging with and consolidating relations with emerging countries
A4U International project
Barcelona - NYC programme: preparatory contacts, definition and implementation of projects
Annual editions of the IGSS
Development of cooperation with Asia
Development of double/joint degrees and other projects for boosting strategic relations: preparatory trips and project presentations
Staff recruitment
UPF Global Network Initiative project
Talent programme: marketing, direct promotion and online recruitment campaigns
Mobility plan: map and expansion of agreements with companies, specific international mobility schemes
Reception plan: reception activities, coordination of associations and integration actions
International Helpdesk programme: launch of the office, web page and management applications
Staff recruitment
UPF International Experience project
B4
B3
B2
B1
A13
Review and assessment of applications
Receipt of applications
Doctors’ mobility programme on the context of the A4U
Mobility programme for young PhD holders as part of the A4U
Overall coordination and monitoring
Stabilisation programme (ICREA calls, etc.)
Negotiation and incorporation of candidates
Assessment of applications
Publication of calls for selection
Presentation to COFUND: preparation of proposal
Project definition (timetable, assessment methodology, assessment panel, etc.)
Talent attraction and transnational mobility project
Organisation of an initial international symposium on “global democracy and justice” as a means for the international presentation
of the centre
Launch of regular activities at the centre
Definition of a five year working plan
Appointment of UPF and UOC researchers and the academic management
Establishment of the centre and arrangement of a minimal organisational and material structure
Formal signing of agreements between promoting universities and, if applicable, other institutions
and companies wishing to contribute to the centre’s goals
Design and definition of the structure, goals, forms of organisation, operation and funding for the centre
Set-up of a UPF-UOC interuniversity centre for research on moral and political theory
Installations
Cladding, woodwork and finishes
Foundations and structure
Earthworks and demolition
Project, works management and licences
UPF-Social Sciences and Humanities Research Park
Launch of new master’s degree
Report on the new master’s degree syllabus, design and preparation
Launch of new bachelor’s degree
Report on the new bachelor’s degree syllabus, design and preparation
Launch of the new bachelor’s degree in Criminology
Report on the joint Criminology syllabus, design and preparation
Preparation of a protocol on bimodality
Establishment of working groups/strategy preparation
Bimodal teaching cooperation projects on interuniversity undergraduate and postgraduate programmes
(UPF-UOC)
C2
C1
B6
B5
E-transcript implementation
E-administration implementation project
Fundraising actions
Strategic fundraising plan addressed to former students
Agreements with professional associations and other local and international institutions
Organisation of meetings and conferences for former students
Development and publication of the UPF friends and former students magazine
Development of international and professional chapters
Staff recruitment for implementing the development of clubs and chapters
Professional career guidance workshops and courses
UPF Alumni programme
Networking
Internationalisation: definition of instruments, indicators and promotion of technology
Advice for setting up TBCs
Knowledge protection
Technology assessment
Valuation: identification of marketable knowledge/technologies
Knowledge offer (catalogue preparation; creation of a virtual tool for promotion; redefinition of management indicators, etc.)
Strategic knowledge transfer plan
Networking actions (representation in networks, on platforms, etc.)
Logistical support in Brussels (reservation of areas for project preparation meetings, kick-off meetings, etc.)
Agreement for cooperation with the CDTI and other suitable institutions
Actions to promote the OPERA (with the European Commission, CDTI, MICINN, etc.)
Monitoring and anticipation of developments in European R&D&I policy
Positioning and participation in the debates on preparing the 8th FP
Participation of researchers as assessors in the 8th FP
Researcher involvement in advisory groups
Anticipation of priorities and future opportunities for funding from the FP
Defence of R&D&I interests (incorporation of topics in WPs, etc)
Preparation/monitoring of a strategic plan for individual action
European A4U Office in Brussels (OPERA)
Programme monitoring
Incorporation of the doctors chosen
Acceptance by applicants
Final resolution and notification to applicants
C3
Preparation of a campaign for encouraging and promoting women's university sports at UPF
Creation of a steady cultural circuit on all UPF campuses and an external cultural circuit through cooperation
Preparation of the UPF culture map
Creation of the volunteering classroom
Organisation of student participation week (November/May)
Reform of the UPF structure for student participation in faculties and schools
Reform of UPF Student Council regulations
Establishment of UPF delegate regulations
Implementation of new regulations governing UPF student associations
Report on UPF student participation
Plan of action for a comprehensive model of student participation
Interoperability documents issued
E-voting in elections
Online processing
Distributed digital certificates
UPF CAMPUS
ICÀRIA INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
www.upf.edu/icaria